A member of the Society of Jesus.* The term was originally coined as a put down by people who felt there was something terribly arrogant about a group calling itself the Company or Society of Jesus, whereas previous religious orders* had been content to name themselves after their founder (e.g., “Benedictines,” “Franciscans,” “Dominicans”). Later the title was adopted as a shorthand name by members of the Society themselves, as well as by others favorable to them. Adjective. Pertaining to the Society of Jesus. The negative term, now that Jesuit as been rehabilitated, is Jesuitical meaning “sly” or “devious.”