cordelier

A Franciscan monk, known as a cordelier, walks peacefully through a monastery garden.

Definition

1. Noun:
   • A Franciscan friar: "cordelier" refers to a member of the Franciscan order of friars, especially those who wear a knotted cord as a belt, which is a distinctive part of their habit. This term is historical and specific to certain contexts.
   • A member of a political club: In French history, a "cordelier" also denotes a member of the Cordeliers Club, a radical political group during the French Revolution, named after the monastery where they met.

Usage Examples

• (A Franciscan friar.)
• (A member of the Cordeliers Club.)

Advanced Usage

• "The Cordeliers Club": a specific historical reference to the Society of the Friends of the Rights of Man, active in Paris from 1790 to 1794.
  • The Cordeliers Club was more radical than the Jacobins, often calling for direct democracy. (The political group.)

Variants and Related Words

• Cordelière (n): a French variant spelling, sometimes used to refer to the female members or the order itself.
  • She studied the history of the cordelière order in medieval France. (The female Franciscan order.)

Synonyms

• Franciscan: a member of the religious order founded by Saint Francis of Assisi.
• Friar: a member of a mendicant religious order, often used interchangeably with "cordelier" in historical contexts.

Related Idioms

• No common idioms directly involve "cordelier," as the term is primarily historical and specific.