noun
Archaic or historical term for the Jesuit order. In modern Japanese, イエズス会 is the standard name. This form may appear in older texts or in contexts discussing early Christianity in Japan.
See also: イエズス会
耶蘇会は、戦国時代に日本へ渡来したキリスト教の修道会である。
The Society of Jesus was a Christian religious order that came to Japan during the Warring States period.
この古文書には「耶蘇会」という表記が見られるが、現在では「イエズス会」と書くのが普通だ。
In this old document, the notation '耶蘇会' can be seen, but nowadays it is normally written as 'イエズス会'.
The modern standard term for the Society of Jesus. 耶蘇会 is an archaic variant using ateji for 'Jesus'.
From 耶蘇 (ateji for 'Jesus') + 会 ('society, order'). The reading やそ is an old approximation of the Portuguese 'Jesu' or Latin 'Iesu'.