Sans-culotte

1 definition found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Sans-culotte \Sans`-cu`lotte"\ (F. ?; E. ?), n. [F., without
     breeches.]
     1. A fellow without breeches; a ragged fellow; -- a name of
        reproach given in the first French revolution to the
        extreme republican party, who rejected breeches as an
        emblem peculiar to the upper classes or aristocracy, and


        adopted pantaloons.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Hence, an extreme or radical republican; a violent
        revolutionist; a Jacobin.
        [1913 Webster]