n. [ Cf. F. Jacob. See 2d Jack. ] A Hebrew patriarch (son of Isaac, and ancestor of the Jews), who in a vision saw a ladder reaching up to heaven (Gen. xxviii. 12); -- also called Israel. [ 1913 Webster ]

And Jacob said . . . with my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I am become two bands. Gen. xxxii. 9, 10. [ 1913 Webster ]

Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel. Gen. xxxii. 28. [ 1913 Webster ]

Jacob's ladder. (a) (Bot.) A perennial herb of the genus Polemonium (Polemonium cœruleum), having corymbs of drooping flowers, usually blue. Gray. (b) (Naut.) A rope ladder, with wooden steps, for going aloft. R. H. Dana, Jr. (c) (Naut.) A succession of short cracks in a defective spar. --
Jacob's membrane. See Retina. --
Jacob's staff. (a) A name given to many forms of staff or weapon, especially in the Middle Ages; a pilgrim's staff. [ Obs. ] Spenser. (b) (Surveying) See under Staff. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ See Jacobean. ] (Bot.) A bulbous plant (Amaryllis formosissima syn. Sprekelia formosissima) from Mexico. It bears a single, large, deep, red, lilylike flower. [ Written also Jacobean. ]

n. any distinguished personage during the reign of James I of England. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

{ } a. [ From L. Jacobus James. See 2d Jack. ] Of or pertaining to James the First, of England, or of his reign or times; especially, pertaining to a style of architecture and decoration popular in the time of James I.; as, Jacobean writers. “A Jacobean table.” C. L. Eastlake. [ 1913 Webster + WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ F. See 2d Jack, Jacobite. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. (Eccl. Hist.) A Dominican friar; -- so named because, before the French Revolution, that order had a convent in the Rue St. Jacques, Paris. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One of a society of violent agitators in France, during the revolution of 1789, who held secret meetings in the Jacobin convent in the Rue St. Jacques, Paris, and concerted measures to control the proceedings of the National Assembly. Hence: A plotter against an existing government; a turbulent demagogue. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Zool.) A fancy pigeon, in which the feathers of the neck form a hood, -- whence the name. The wings and tail are long, and the beak moderately short. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Same as Jacobinic. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A Jacobin.

{ } a. Of or pertaining to the Jacobins of France; revolutionary; of the nature of, or characterized by, Jacobinism. Burke. -- Jac`o*bin"ic*al*ly, adv. [1913 Webster]

n. [ Cf. F. Jacobinisme. ] The principles of the Jacobins; violent and factious opposition to legitimate government. [ 1913 Webster ]

Under this new stimulus, Burn's previous Jacobitism passed towards the opposite, but not very distant, extreme of Jacobinism. J. C. Shairp. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Jacobinized p. pr. & vb. n. Jacobinizing ] [ Cf. F. Jacobiniser. ] To taint with, or convert to, Jacobinism. [ 1913 Webster ]

France was not then jacobinized. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]