‖n.; pl. Carbonari [ It., a coal man. ] A member of a secret political association in Italy, organized in the early part of the nineteenth centry for the purpose of changing the government into a republic. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The origin of the Carbonari is uncertain, but the society is said to have first met, in 1808, among the charcoal burners of the mountains, whose phraseology they adopted. [ 1913 Webster ]