Jesuit
UK /ˈd͡ʒɛz(j)uɪt/ · US /ˈd͡ʒɛzuɪt/ noun, adjective
Forms Jesuits
- noun (Catholicism) A member of the Society of Jesus.
- noun (obsolete) A crafty person; an intriguer.
- adjective Of, relating to, or characteristic of the Society of Jesus or its members.
Synonyms
Etymology
Learned borrowing from New Latin Iēsūīta, from Latin Iēsūs + -īta.
Webster’s 1913
- noun One of a religious order founded by Ignatius Loyola, and approved in 1540, under the title of The Society of Jesus.
- noun Fig.: A crafty person; an intriguer. Jesuits' bark, Peruvian bark, or the bark of certain species of Cinchona; --so called because its medicinal properties were first made known in Europe by Jesuit missionaries to South America.
Etymology [F. Jésuite, Sp. Jesuita: cf. It. Gesuita.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “Jesuit”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details