monkey of Central America and South America having thick hair on the head that resembles a monk's cowl
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Capuchin \Cap`u*chin"\, n. [F. capucin a monk who wears a cowl, fr. It. cappuccio hood. See {Capoch}.] 1. (Eccl.) A Franciscan monk of the austere branch established in 1526 by Matteo di Baschi, distinguished by wearing the long pointed cowl or capoch of St. Francis.
A bare-footed and long-bearded capuchin. --Sir W. Scott.
2. A garment for women, consisting of a cloak and hood, resembling, or supposed to resemble, that of capuchin monks.
3. (Zo["o]l.) (a) A long-tailed South American monkey ({Cabus capucinus}), having the forehead naked and wrinkled, with the hair on the crown reflexed and resembling a monk's cowl, the rest being of a grayish white; -- called also {capucine monkey}, {weeper}, {sajou}, {sapajou}, and {sai}. (b) Other species of {Cabus}, as {Cabus fatuellus} (the {brown capucine} or {horned capucine}.), {Cabus albifrons} (the {cararara}), and {Cabus apella}. (c) A variety of the domestic pigeon having a hoodlike tuft of feathers on the head and sides of the neck.
{Capuchin nun}, one of an austere order of Franciscan nuns which came under Capuchin rule in 1538. The order had recently been founded by Maria Longa.
About 35 Capuchin missionaries work in Nicaragua.
Bishop Schmitz went to Nicaragua as a missionary in 1972 and was ordained auxiliary bishop in 1984, according to Brother Larry La Cross, a spokesman for the Capuchin Order provincial headquarters in Detroit.