Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Capuchin?

\Cap`u*chin"\, n. [F. capucin a monk who wears a cowl, fr. It. cappuccio hood. See {Capoch}.] 1. (Eccl.) A Franciscan monk of the austere branch established in 1526 by Matteo di Baschi, distinguished by wearing the long pointed cowl or capoch of St. Francis. A bare-footed and long-bearded capuchin. --Sir W. Scott. 2. A garment for women, consisting of a cloak and hood, resembling, or supposed to resemble, that of capuchin monks. 3. (Zo["o]l.) (a) A long-tailed South American monkey ({Cabus capucinus}), having the forehead naked and wrinkled, with the hair on the crown reflexed and resembling a monk's cowl, the rest being of a grayish white; -- called also {capucine monkey}, {weeper}, {sajou}, {sapajou}, and {sai}. (b) Other species of {Cabus}, as {C. fatuellus} (the brown or {horned capucine}.), {C. albifrons} (the {cararara}), and {C. apella}. (c) A variety of the domestic pigeon having a hoodlike tuft of feathers on the head and sides of the neck. {Capuchin nun}, one of an austere order of Franciscan nuns which came under Capuchin rule in 1538. The order had recently been founded by Maria Longa.