A sect of Christians in Syria and Mesopotamia; so called, either from Jacob, a Syrian, who lived in the reign of the emperor Mauritius, or from one Jacob, a monk, who flourished in the year 550. The Jacobites are of two sects, some following the rites of the Latin church, and others continuing separated from the church of Rome. There is also a division among the latter, who have two rival patriarchs. As to their belief, they hold but one nature in Jesus Christ with respect to purgatory, and prayers for the dead, they are of the same opinion with the Greeks and other eastern Christians. They consecrate unleavened bread at the eucharist, and are against confession, believing that it is not of divine institution.