Whig
noun/wɪɡ/
Etymology From Whiggamore, possibly from Scots whiggamore (“horse driver”), from whig (“to drive”) + mare.
1
Government, Politics UK, Historical A member of an 18th- and 19th-century political party in Britain that was opposed to the Tories, and eventually became the Liberal Party.
- One was a piece, Two Cheers for the Whig Interpretation of History, by William Cronon, president of the American Historical Association.2012 October 3, Rebekah Higgitt, “Why whiggish won't do”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
2
Government, Politics UK, Rare A member (especially a politician) of the former Liberal Party or its successor, the Liberal Democrats.
3
Government, Politics US, Historical An advocate of war against, or independence from, Britain during the American Revolution.
4
Government, Politics US, Historical A member of a 19th-century US political party opposed to the Democratic Party.
- Derived terms
- Whig history, Whiggery, Whiggish, Whiggishness
- Related terms
- Tory, Federalist, Lib Dem, Labour, Grit