Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A monk belonging to the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, an independent order of Franciscans founded in Italy in 1525–1528 and dedicated to preaching and missionary work.
  • noun A hooded cloak worn by women.
  • noun Any of several monkeys of the genus Cebus of Central and South America, having a prehensile tail and often a black or brown cap of hair on top of the head.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A member of a mendicant order of Franciscan monks, founded in Italy in 1528 by Matteo di Bassi, and named from the long pointed capouch or cowl which is the distinguishing mark of their dress.
  • noun [lowercase] A variety of pigeon with a range of inverted feathers on the back of the head, like the cap or cowl of a monk.
  • noun 3. [lowercase] A South American monkey, Cebus capucinus, having black on the head, like the hood or cowl of a Capuchin; hence, any sapajou or monkey of the genus Cebus. Also written capucine. See cut under Cebinæ.
  • noun 4. [lowercase] One of the baldheaded fruit-crows of South America, Gymnocephalus calvus.
  • noun A large loose hood worn by women in the eighteenth century.
  • noun A hooded cloak of the same period.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (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.
  • noun A garment for women, consisting of a cloak and hood, resembling, or supposed to resemble, that of capuchin monks.
  • noun 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.
  • noun Other species of Cabus, as Cabus fatuellus (the brown capucine or horned capucine.), Cabus albifrons (the cararara), and Cabus apella.
  • noun A variety of the domestic pigeon having a hoodlike tuft of feathers on the head and sides of the neck.
  • noun one of an austere order of Franciscan nuns which came under Capuchin rule in 1538. The order had recently been founded by Maria Longa.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A capuchin monkey.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a hooded cloak for women
  • noun monkey of Central America and South America having thick hair on the head that resembles a monk's cowl

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Obsolete French, from Italian cappuccino, pointed cowl, Capuchin, from cappuccio, hood; see capuche.]

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Examples

Comments

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  • Also the Italian order of monks who wore such garments...and made a very special kind of coffee.

    June 26, 2009

  • See cappuccino. Not to mention the Wordie store.

    June 26, 2009

  • failed Franciscans

    June 26, 2009

  • I'd rather be a failure with a cappuccino than a Franciscan monk.

    June 26, 2009

  • I can't ask the Festival producer out for a Franciscan, it just wouldn't do.

    June 26, 2009

  • But Franciscans have that great city in California, even if things do get a little shaky there from time to time.

    June 27, 2009