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jacobin

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

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7 characters

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English

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "jacobin", 7-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "jacobin" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "jacobin" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

Jacobin is aEnglishnoun. It means: Synonym of Dominican, a member of the Dominican Order, particularly its French chapter. Pronounced /ˈd͡ʒæk.ə.bɪn/.

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Key facts for Jacobin
PropertyValue
HeadwordJacobin
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈd͡ʒæk.ə.bɪn/
Letters7
Frequency rank#58,774
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of Jacobin in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for Jacobin is 7 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈd͡ʒæk.ə.bɪn/. Corpus data places it at rank #58,774 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

No frequent misspelling variants are recorded for Jacobin in our index, suggesting the orthography either follows predictable English patterns or the word is uncommon enough that typo corpora lack signal.It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English Jacobin, from Old French jacobin, from Latin Jācōbīnus, from Latin Jācōbus (“James, Jacob, etc.”) + -īnus (“-ine: forming adjectives”), from Ancient Greek Ἰάκωβος (Iákōbos), from Biblical Hebrew יַעֲקֹב (Ya'akóv), q.v. In reference to th… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is Jacobin, spelled J-A-C-O-B-I-N, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Synonym of Dominican, a member of the Dominican Order, particularly its French chapter.
  2. 2
    A member of the Jacobin Club, a radical political club prominent during the French Revolution.
  3. 3
    A sympathizer or supposed sympathizer with the French political club or its aims of democracy and social equality.
  4. 4
    A leftist radical in other contexts.
  5. 5
    Synonym of Jacobite, a member of the Syriac Orthodox Church.
  6. 6
    Alternative letter-case form of jacobin, various birds.

Etymology

From Middle English Jacobin, from Old French jacobin, from Latin Jācōbīnus, from Latin Jācōbus (“James, Jacob, etc.”) + -īnus (“-ine: forming adjectives”), from Ancient Greek Ἰάκωβος (Iákōbos), from Biblical Hebrew יַעֲקֹב (Ya'akóv), q.v. In reference to the Dominican Order, from the proximity of their 1218 chapel and chapter house in Paris to the city's Porte Saint-Jacques, whose road formed an extension of the Way of St. James running to Santiago de Compostela, Spain. In reference to the Jacobin Club, from its 1789 founding at the former Dominican convent. In reference to the Syrian church, from Jacob bar Addai, bishop of Edessa during the mid-6th century.

Frequency rank: #58,774 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "Jacobin"?
"Jacobin" is spelled J-A-C-O-B-I-N. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈd͡ʒæk.ə.bɪn/.
What does "Jacobin" mean?
As a noun, "Jacobin" means: Synonym of Dominican, a member of the Dominican Order, particularly its French chapter.
How do you pronounce "Jacobin"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Jacobin" is /ˈd͡ʒæk.ə.bɪn/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "Jacobin"?
From Middle English Jacobin, from Old French jacobin, from Latin Jācōbīnus, from Latin Jācōbus (“James, Jacob, etc.”) + -īnus (“-ine: forming adjectives”), from Ancient Greek Ἰάκωβος (Iákōbos), from Biblical Hebrew יַעֲקֹב (Ya'akóv), q.v. In refer... See the full etymology section above for more details.
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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.