Whig

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Whig

(wĭg, hwĭg)

1. A member of an 18th- and 19th-century British political party that was opposed to the Tories.

2. A supporter of the war against England during the American Revolution.

3. A 19th-century American political party formed to oppose the Democratic Party and favoring high tariffs and a loose interpretation of the Constitution.

[Probably short for Whiggamore, , a member of a body of 17th-century Scottish Presbyterian rebels.]

Whig′ger·y n.

Whig′gish adj.

Whig′gism n.

Whig

(wɪɡ)

1. (Historical Terms) a member of the English political party or grouping that opposed the succession to the throne of James, Duke of York, in 1679–80 on the grounds that he was a Catholic. Standing for a limited monarchy, the Whigs represented the great aristocracy and the moneyed middle class for the next 80 years. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries the Whigs represented the desires of industrialists and Dissenters for political and social reform. The Whigs provided the core of the Liberal Party

2. (Historical Terms) (in the US) a supporter of the War of American Independence. Compare Tory

3. (Historical Terms) a member of the American political party that opposed the Democrats from about 1834 to 1855 and represented propertied and professional interests

4. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) a conservative member of the Liberal Party in Great Britain

5. (Economics) a person who advocates and believes in an unrestricted laissez-faire economy

6. (Historical Terms) history a 17th-century Scottish Presbyterian, esp one in rebellion against the Crown

adj

(Historical Terms) of, characteristic of, or relating to Whigs

[C17: probably shortened from whiggamore, one of a group of 17th-century Scottish rebels who joined in an attack on Edinburgh known as the whiggamore raid; probably from Scottish whig to drive (of obscure origin) + more, mer, maire horse, mare¹]

ˈWhiggery, ˈWhiggism n

ˈWhiggish adj

ˈWhiggishly adv

ˈWhiggishness n

Whig

(ʰwɪg, wɪg)

n.

1. a member of a political party in Great Britain (c1679–1832) that favored reforms and parliamentary authority.

2. a member of a U.S. political party (c1834–55) formed in opposition to the Democratic Party and favoring high tariffs and a weak presidency.

3. an American colonist who supported the American Revolution.

adj.

4. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of Whigs.

[1635–45; earlier, a Covenanter, hence an opponent of the accession of James II; of uncertain orig., though probably in part a shortening of whiggamaire (later whiggamore), a participant in the Whiggamore Raid, a march against the royalists in Edinburgh launched by Covenanters in 1648]

Whig′gish, adj.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun	1.	Whig - a member of the political party that urged social reform in 18th and 19th century England; was the opposition party to the Tories Englishman - a man who is a native or inhabitant of England liberal, liberalist, progressive - a person who favors a political philosophy of progress and reform and the protection of civil liberties
	2.	Whig - a supporter of the American Revolution admirer, booster, protagonist, supporter, champion, friend - a person who backs a politician or a team etc.; "all their supporters came out for the game"; "they are friends of the library"
	3.	Whig - a member of the Whig Party that existed in the United States before the American Civil War pol, political leader, politico, politician - a person active in party politics

Translations

Whig

[wɪg] (Pol, Hist)

A. N político liberal de los siglos XVII y XVIII

B. ADJ → liberal

Whig

(Brit Hist)

n frühere Bezeichnung für ein Mitglied der liberalen Partei, → Whig m

adj attr → Whig-; Whig government → Whig-Regierung f

References in classic literature ?

"And you, by your long face, should be a Whig?"[13]

[13] Whig or Whigamore was the cant name for those who were loyal to King George.

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He threw himself into the struggle of party, first as a Whig, then as a Tory; but as a friend said of him later, "He was neither Whig nor Tory, neither Jacobite nor Republican.

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I shall tell everybody that you are going to put up for Middlemarch on the Whig side when old Pinkerton resigns, and that Casaubon is going to help you in an underhand manner: going to bribe the voters with pamphlets, and throw open the public-houses to distribute them.

Sir James would be cruelly annoyed: it will be too hard on him if you turn round now and make yourself a Whig sign-board."

View in context

Then we loafed along past the Nickersons, and of course they asked if that was the new stranger yonder, and where'd he come from, and what was his name, and which communion was he, Babtis' or Methodis', and which politics, Whig or Democrat, and how long is he staying, and all them other questions that humans always asks when a stranger comes, and animals does, too.

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But while Charles was outwardly, for political reasons, a member of the Church of England (at heart he was a Catholic), the Duke of York was a professed and devoted Catholic, and the powerful Whig party, strongly Protestant, was violently opposed to him.

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He had ambitions that were vaguely political, he described himself as a Whig, and he was put up for a club which was of Liberal but gentlemanly flavour.

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You have made a Whig of the girl; and how should her father, or anybody else, expect any obedience from her?"--"Brother," answered Mrs Western, with an air of great disdain, "I cannot express the contempt I have for your politics of all kinds; but I will appeal likewise to the young lady herself, whether I have ever taught her any principles of disobedience.

View in context

It is needless to say that Sir Pitt was brought to change his views after the death of the great Whig statesman.

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The greater part of my officers were Whigs. It was well for their venerable brotherhood that the new Surveyor was not a politician, and though a faithful Democrat in principle, neither received nor held his office with any reference to political services.

It appears to me -- who have been a calm and curious observer, as well in victory as defeat -- that this fierce and bitter spirit of malice and revenge has never distinguished the many triumphs of my own party as it now did that of the Whigs. The Democrats take the offices, as a general rule, because they need them, and because the practice of many years has made it the law of political warfare, which unless a different system be proclaimed, it was weakness and cowardice to murmur at.