loy·al·ist

(loi′ə-lĭst)

1. One who maintains loyalty to an established government, political party, or sovereign, especially during war or revolutionary change.

2. Loyalist See Tory.

3. Loyalist One who supported the established government of Spain during the Spanish Civil War.

loy′al·ism n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

loyalist

(ˈlɔɪəlɪst)

(Government, Politics & Diplomacy) a patriotic supporter of his sovereign or government

ˈloyalism n

Loyalist

(ˈlɔɪəlɪst)

1. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) (in Northern Ireland) any of the Protestants wishing to retain Ulster's link with Britain

2. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) (in North America) an American colonist who supported Britain during the War of American Independence

3. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) (in Canada) short for United Empire Loyalist

4. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) (during the Spanish Civil War) a supporter of the republican government

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

loy•al•ist

(ˈlɔɪ ə lɪst)

n.

1. a person who remains loyal, esp. to a sovereign or existing government.

2. (sometimes cap.) a person who remained loyal to the British during the American Revolution; Tory.

3. (cap.) an adherent of the republic during the Spanish Civil War who was opposed to Franco.

[1640–50]

loy′al•ism, n.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

loyalist - a person who is loyal to their allegiance (especially in times of revolt)

stalwart

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"

Translations

loyaliste

lealista

лоялист

loyalist

[ˈlɔɪəlɪst] N (gen) → partidario/a m/f del régimen; (in Spain 1936) → republicano/a m/f (N Irl) (Pol) → unionista mf
loyalist paramilitaries (in Northern Ireland) → paramilitares mpl unionistas

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

loyalist

[ˈlɔɪəlɪst]

n → loyaliste m/f

adj [paramilitary, terrorist] → loyaliste

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

loyalist

n → Loyalist(in) m(f); the loyalists in the army → die regierungstreuen Teile der Armee

adj → loyal; army, troops → regierungstreu

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

loyalist

[ˈlɔɪəlɪst] n & adj → lealista (m/f)

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

That was a moment when a loyalist and an aristocrat like Hutchinson might have learned how powerless are kings, nobles, and great men, when the low and humble range themselves against them.

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After Jos went to Court, which we may be sure he did as a loyal subject of his Sovereign (showing himself in his full court suit at the Club, whither Dobbin came to fetch him in a very shabby old uniform) he who had always been a staunch Loyalist and admirer of George IV, became such a tremendous Tory and pillar of the State that he was for having Amelia to go to a Drawing-room, too.

View in context

Others of the more learned in songs also celebrated his praises in a sort of ballad, which I take to have been written by some Irish loyalist. I have forgotten all but the chorus, which ran, -

View in context

But the town knew worse troubles even than the floods,--troubles of the civil wars, when it was a continual fighting-place, where first Puritans thanked God for the blood of the Loyalists, and then Loyalists thanked God for the blood of the Puritans.

View in context

An interview in the mock heroic style, between the rebel warriors and the British commander-in-chief, was received with immense applause, which came loudest of all from the loyalists of the colony.

View in context

Calhoon and his work on Loyalist ideology before, during, and after the American Revolution.

The Consequences of Loyalism: Essays in Honor of Robert M. Calhoon

Some of us know about the Loyalists through casual family references to "You come from Loyalist stock" and become curious enough about this reference to their distant past to join an organization that focuses on ancestral research such as the UELAC.

The Loyalist Quill

AN umbrella group involving loyalist paramilitaries is warning "all unionists and loyalists against voting for Alliance Party candidates".

LOYALISTS IN ANTI ALLIANCE VOTE CALL; Umbrella body warns of 'nail in coffin of Union'

Ruma Chopra has achieved a worthy addition in American Revolution scholarship and its sub-field of Loyalist studies.

Ruma Chopra. Choosing Sides: Loyalists in Revolutionary America

Recently, Maya Jasanoff wrote that "at least sixty thousand loyalists with fifteen thousand slaves in tow" deserted the United States to dwell in lands still flying the Union Jack, adding that, "I will supply full documentation for my estimates in my forthcoming book on the loyalist diaspora." (6) When the book I appeared, the evidence was placed in an appendix entitled "Measuring the Exodus." (7) This estimate of Tory exiles was cited before the book's publication.

How many American loyalists left the United States?

That may be a suitable role for our great northern neighbor in Canada, because the loyalist community formed much of the demographic basis for its Anglophone society and political culture.

Hail, Britannia