Definition of "capuchin" [cap•u•chin]

• A monk belonging to the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, an independent order of Franciscans founded in Italy in 1525-1528 and dedicated to preaching and missionary work. (noun)
• A hooded cloak worn by women. (noun)
• Any of several long-tailed monkeys of the genus Cebus, native to Central and South America and often having a hoodlike tuft of hair on the head. Also called sapajou. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The capuchin is a New World monkey, brown and cute, the size of a scrawny year-old human baby plus a long tail."
• "Attached to the coat was often a hood, known as a capuchin, which might be pulled over the toque as an additional head-covering on a journey through the storm."
• "Human as it sounds, loss aversion appears to be a trait we've inherited genetically because it is found in other primates, such as capuchin monkeys."