Jacobite

American  

[jak-uh-bahyt] / ˈdʒæk əˌbaɪt /

noun

1. a partisan or adherent of James II of England after his overthrow (1688), or of the Stuarts.

2. a member of the Syrian Monophysitic church, which was founded in the 6th century a.d. and was governed by the patriarch of Antioch.

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Jacobite British  

/ ˌdʒækəˈbɪtɪk, ˈdʒækəˌbaɪt /

noun

1. history an adherent of James II after his overthrow in 1688, or of his descendants in their attempts to regain the throne

2. a member of the Monophysite Church of Syria, which became a schismatic church in 451 _ad

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Other Word Forms

• Jacobitic adjective
• Jacobitical adjective
• Jacobitism noun

Etymology

Origin of Jacobite

1400–50; Jacobite ( in def. 2 ) late Middle English (< Middle French ) < Medieval Latin Jacōbīta, after Jacobus Baradaeus, bishop of Edessa (died 578); Jacobite ( in def. 1 ) James; -ite ¹

Example Sentences

Members of the prince's Jacobite army marched from nearby Culloden Parks to join the fighting against the Duke of Cumberland's government army.

From BBC • Apr. 6, 2025

Mrs Justice Thornton said a feature of the Jacobite was the hinged doors that "can be opened by anyone inside the train even when the train is moving".

From BBC • Dec. 22, 2023

The Duke of Perth was a key part of the 1745 Jacobite rising, assembling a regiment for Bonnie Prince Charlie's cause.

From BBC • Oct. 23, 2023

Fought on 16 April 1746, it saw Bonnie Prince Charlie and his Jacobite supporters defeated by a British government army.

From BBC • Oct. 4, 2023

And the danger of an Hanoverian sovereign becoming a Jacobite under any influence seems too fantastic for a pantomime.

From Lord Chatham His Early Life and Connections by Rosebery, Archibald Phillip Primrose