Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Roman Catholic Church A member of the Society of Jesus.
- n. One given to subtle casuistry.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A member of the “Society of Jesus” (or “Company of Jesus”), founded by Ignatius Loyola in 1534 and confirmed by the Pope in 1540. Its membership includes two general classes, laymen, or temporal coadjutors, and priests; and six grades, namely, novices, formed temporal coadjutors, approved scholastics, formed spiritual coadjutors, the professed of three vows, and the professed of four vows. The applicant for admission to the order must be at least fourteen years old, and the three vows cannot be taken before the age of thirty-three. After a two years' novitiate the lay brothers become temporal coadjutors, and the candidates for the priesthood are advanced to the grade of scholastics. A rigorous course of study follows for fourteen or fifteen years, divided into three nearly equal periods of academic or collegiate study, teaching and study combined, and a course in theology. At the end of this time the scholastic enters on another short novitiate, after which he may become either a spiritual coadjutor or one of the professed. The three vows are voluntary poverty, perfect chastity, and perfect obedience; and the fourth vow is absolute submission to the Pope. The professed of the four vows are the most influential class; they form the general congregation, and fill the highest offices and the leading missions. The general is elected for life by the general congregation. He has great power, limited only by the constitutions, and is aided by a council of assistants. He must reside at Rome, and is subject only to the Pope. There is an elaborate organization, with a division into five “assistanies,” subdivided into provinces, each of which is administered by a provincial, and each provincial has “superiors,” rectors, etc., as subordinates. Two features characterize the system thus organized—absolute obedience and a perfect system of scrutiny. It is the combination of these two principles which has made the order of Jesuits such a power in the church. So formidable has their political influence been supposed to be that they have often been expelled even from Roman Catholic communities. They were expelled from France in 1594, restored in 1603, again expelled in 1764, and for the last time in 1880. They were expelled from Spain in 1767, and at different times from various other countries. In 1773 the order was suppressed by Pope Clement XIV., but it was revived in 1814. It is believed now to number about ten thousand members.
- n. A crafty or insidious person; an intriguer: so called in allusion to the crafty and intriguing methods commonly ascribed to the Jesuits.
- n. [lowercase] A dress worn by women in the latter part of the eighteenth century; a kind of indoor morning-gown.
- To cause to conform to the principles of the Jesuits; make a Jesuit of.
Wiktionary
- n. Christianity a member of the Society of Jesus
- adj. of, relating to, or characteristic of this society or its members
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (R. C. Ch.) One of a religious order founded by Ignatius Loyola, and approved in 1540, under the title of The Society of Jesus.
- n. Fig.: A crafty person; an intriguer.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a member of the Jesuit order
- adj. having qualities characteristic of Jesuits or Jesuitism
Etymologies
- French Jésuite, from Jésus, Jesus, from Late Latin Iēsus; see Jesus1. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“We first hear of the term Jesuit in 1544, applied as a term of reproach by adversaries.”
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 7: Gregory XII-Infallability
“It was impossible for us to strike the tents till the afternoon, and then we took our departure, and made an easy march of four miles to another branch of Hico river, which we called Jesuit's creek, because it misled us.”
“The Jesuits, for example, place abuser priests in Jesuit communities away from schools and parishes, where they typically cannot leave without another priest, said the Rev. Thomas Gaunt, executive secretary of the Jesuit Conference, the order's U.S. office.”
“The Honolulu-born Jesuit is the past president of Gonzaga University and is also well-known philosopher and physicist who is involved in bringing science and theology together.”
“Three weeks after Hurricane Katrina savaged the southeast Louisiana coast, sportsmen like Joe Courcelle in Jesuit Bend, about 40 miles downriver from New Orleans, were trying to view the glass as half-full.”
“It was not by turning his back on courts that he could hope to regenerate them; but it would be interesting could we discover whether by a contrary decision he would have averted some of the odium which the name Jesuit has accumulated in the course of ages.”
“Lawyer: 12 suspects in German Jesuit school child sex abuse claims”
“The word Jesuit refers to the Society of Jesus, & the largest order of all Catholics in doomed america.”
“But the Jesuit is not exempt from the prejudices of his order; he adopts and adorns, like his rival Buchanan, the most absurd of the national legends; he is too careless of criticism and chronology, and supplies, from a lively fancy, the chasms of historical evidence.”
“The intrepid Joncaire, agent of France among the Senecas, was scandalized at what he calls the Jesuit's flight, and wrote to the commandant of Fort Frontenac that its effect on the Indians was such that he, Joncaire, was in peril of his life. [”
A Half Century of Conflict - Volume I France and England in North America
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ruzuzu "3. lowercase A dress worn by women in the latter part of the eighteenth century; a kind of indoor morning-gown." --Cent. Dict.
Aug 10, 2011