Cār'bo-nā'rī, n. pl.

n. pl. [It. carbonaro, a coal-man.] Members of a secret political association in Italy, in the early part of the nineteenth century, for changing the government by force into a republic.

The origin of the society is uncertain, but is said to have been among charcoal-burners, whose occupation offered inducements to mysterious associations. The Carbonari adopted charcoal as a symbol of purification, and took for a symbolic motto, “Revenge upon the wolves who devour the lambs.” The place where they assembled was called the baracca, or collier's hut, and the interior was styled the vendita, from the sale of coals which the colliers are supposed to carry on in their huts.