sb. (and attrib.) Also -ine. [a. 16th c. F. capuchin (now capucin), ad. It. capuccino, f. capuccio, capuche hood: see above.]
1. A friar of the order of St. Francis, of the new rule of 1528. So called from the sharp-pointed capuche, adopted first in 1525, and confirmed to them by Pope Clement VII. in 1528.
1599. Marston, Sco. Villanie, I. ii. 178. When impropriat gentles will turn Capuchine.
1603. Bp. Hall, Serm., v. 5. More strict and Capuchin-like.
1712. trans. Pomet’s Hist. Drugs, I. 163. The invention of Friar Auge the Capuchin.
1771. Smollett, Humph. Cl. (1785), I. 63/2. He … traversed … France, in the disguise of a Capuchin.
1876. Bancroft, Hist. U. S., II. xl. 494. The Capuchin missionary.
2. ‘A female garment, consisting of a cloak and hood, made in imitation of the dress of capuchin friars; whence its name’ (J.).
[1706. trans. C’tess D’Aunoy’s Trav., 5. Wrapping up their Heads in their Hooded-Gowns, they seemed to me to be Thieves disguised in Capuchins.]
1749. Fielding, Tom Jones, Wks. 1775, III. 72. The young lady had on her hat and capuchin. Ibid. (1752), Covent Gard. Jrnl., 9 May. Within my memory the ladies … covered their lovely necks with a Cloak; this was exchanged for the manteel, this again was succeeded by the pelorine, the pelorine by the neckatee, the neckatce by the capuchine, which hath now stood its ground a long time.
1858. Thackeray, Virgin., I. 377.
b. = CAPUCHE, hood.
1834. Planché, Brit. Costume, 322. In … 1752 we find a successor to the hood in the capuchin.
1887. Cornh. Mag., March, 266. Attached to the collar of the coat, and hanging midway down the back, is the uncouth capuchin.
3. A plant, Impatiens.
1756. P. Browne, Jamaica, 322. The Capuchine or Balsamine [Impatiens] … introduced to Jamaica many years ago.
4. Capuchin monkey, an American monkey (Cebus capucinus) with black hair at the back of the head, looking something like a cowl; Capuchin pigeon, a sub-variety of the Jacobin pigeon, with a range of inverted feathers on the back of the head, suggesting a cowl or hood.
1785. J. E. Smith, in Leisure Ho. (1883), June, 353/2. The Capuchin monkey … whose horrid yellings are intolerable to the ears.
1855. H. Spencer, Princ. Psychol. (1872), I. I. i. 11. The movements of the little Capuchin monkey.
1855. Owen, Skel. & Teeth, 300. Capucin-monkey (Cebus).
1735. J. Moore, Columb., in Tegetmeier, Pigeons, xvi. (1867), 146. Under the title of the Capuchine Moore alludes to a breed which is evidently nothing more than an inferior or cross-bred Jacobine.
5. Capuchin’s beard, a variety of endive used for salad; Capuchine capers, see CAPER sb.1 3.
1861. Delamer, Kitch. Gard., 111. Barbe de Capucin, or Capuchin’s Beard, is consumed in large quantities in Paris during winter and early spring. It is the same thing as the foregoing chicory.
