A Whig was a member of a British political party in the 18th and 19th centuries that wasin favour of political and social changes.
[British]
2. countable noun
In the American Revolution, a Whig was an American who supported the revolution against the British.
[US]
3. countable noun
A Whig was a member of an American political party in the 19th century that wanted to limit the powers of the President.
[US]
Whig in British English
(wɪɡ)
noun
1.
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.
(in the US) a supporter of the War of American Independence
Compare Tory
3.
a member of the American political party that opposed the Democrats from about 1834 to 1855 and represented propertied and professional interests
4.
a conservative member of the Liberal Party in Great Britain
5.
a person who advocates and believes in an unrestricted laissez-faire economy
6. history
a 17th-century Scottish Presbyterian, esp one in rebellion against the Crown
adjective
7.
of, characteristic of, or relating to Whigs
Derived forms
Whiggery (ˈWhiggery) or Whiggism (ˈWhiggism)
noun
Whiggish (ˈWhiggish)
adjective
Whiggishly (ˈWhiggishly)
adverb
Whiggishness (ˈWhiggishness)
noun
Word origin
C17: probably shortened from whiggamore, one of a group of 17th-century Scottish rebels who joined in an attack on Edinburghknown as the whiggamore raid; probably from Scottish whig to drive (of obscure origin) + more, mer, maire horse, mare1
Whig in American English
(hwɪg; wɪg)
noun
1.
a member of a political party in England (fl. 18th to mid-19th cent.) which championed reform and parliamentary rights: it later became the Liberal Party
2. US
in the American Revolution, a person who opposed continued allegiance to Great Britain and supported the Revolution
3. US
a member of an American political party (c. 1834-56) opposing the Democratic Party and advocating protection of industry and limitation of the power of the executive branch of government
4. [alsow-]
one who propounds or subscribes to a Whig interpretation of history
adjective
5.
of or characteristic of Whigs
6. [alsow-]
of or designating historical interpretation which finds in events an uninterrupted line of progress against reactionary forces and often regards the present as a natural and inevitable result of the past
Derived forms
Whiggish (ˈWhiggish)
adjective
Word origin
shortened form of whiggamore (applied to Scot Covenanters who marched on Edinburgh in 1648), an erratic form ofScot whiggamaire < whig, a cry to urge on horses + mare, horse
Examples of 'Whig' in a sentence
Whig
It was a copy of Samuel Buckley's The Daily Courant, a paper which Man did not often bother to read for its tiresome Whig fervour.