The Collaborative International Dictionary
Cordelier \Cor`de*lier"\ (k[^o]r`d[-e]*l[=e]r"), n. [F., fr. OF. cordel, F. cordeau, dim. fr. corde string, rope. See Cord.]
(Eccl. Hist.) A Franciscan; -- so called in France from the girdle of knotted cord worn by all Franciscans.
(Fr. Hist.) A member of a French political club of the time of the first Revolution, of which Danton and Marat were members, and which met in an old Cordelier convent in Paris.
Usage examples of "cordelier".
Jacobin and Cordelier Clubs the coarsest libels were poured forth against her with unremitting perseverance to stimulate and justify the most obscene and ferocious threats.
In the constant uproar of incoherent discussions,[49] athwart "propositions ex abrupto, among shouts, swearing, and the going and coming of questioning petitioners," he is seen mastering his new colleagues with his "stentorian voice, his gestures of an athlete, his fearful threats," taking upon himself their duties, dictating to them what and whom he chooses, "fetching in commissions already drawn up," taking charge of everything, "making propositions, arrests, and proclamations, issuing brevets," and drawing millions out of the public treasury, casting a sop to his dogs in the Cordeliers and the Commune, "to one 20,000 francs, and to another 10,000," "for the Revolution, and on account of their patriotism," -- such is a summary report of his doings.
Later on, indeed, these are to become, at the Jacobin and Cordeliers clubs, the tricoteuses (knitters) who fill their tribunes.