A Jesuit is a Catholic priest who belongs to the Society of Jesus.
Jesuit in British English
(ˈdʒɛzjʊɪt)
noun
1.
a member of a Roman Catholic religious order (the Society of Jesus) founded by Saint Ignatius Loyola in 1534 with the aims of defending the papacy and Catholicism against the Reformation and to undertake missionary work among the heathen
2. (sometimes not capital) informal
a person given to subtle and equivocating arguments; casuist
Derived forms
Jesuitic (ˌJesuˈitic) or Jesuitical (ˌJesuˈitical)
adjective
Jesuitically (Jesuˈitically)
adverb
Word origin
C16: from New Latin Jēsuita, from Late Latin Jēsus + -ita-ite1
Jesuit in American English
(ˈdʒɛʒuɪt; ˈdʒɛzjuɪt; ˈdʒɛzuɪt)
noun
1.
a member of the Society of Jesus, a Roman Catholic religious order for men, foundedby Ignatius Loyola in 1534
2. [j-]
a crafty schemer; cunning dissembler; casuist
, hostile and offensive term, as used by anti-Jesuits