1. whig(n = noun.person) - a member of the political party that urged social reform in 18th and 19th century England; was the opposition party to the Tories;
is a kind of englishman, liberal, liberalist, progressive
2. whig(n = noun.person) - a supporter of the American Revolution;
is a kind of admirer, booster, champion, friend, protagonist, supporter
3. whig(n = noun.person) - a member of the Whig Party that existed in the United States before the American Civil War;
is a kind of pol, political leader, politician, politico
Acidulated whey, sometimes mixed with buttermilk and sweet herbs, used as a cooling beverage. [1913 Webster]
1. One of a political party which grew up in England in the seventeenth century, in the reigns of Charles I. and II., when great contests existed respecting the royal prerogatives and the rights of the people. Those who supported the king in his high claims were called Tories, and the advocates of popular rights, of parliamentary power over the crown, and of toleration to Dissenters, were, after 1679, called Whigs. The terms Liberal and Radical have now generally superseded Whig in English politics. See the note under Tory. [1913 Webster]
2. A friend and supporter of the American Revolution; -- opposed to
Of or pertaining to the Whigs. [1913 Webster]
whig, n. hist.
1 Polit. a member of the British reforming and constitutional party that after 1688 sought the supremacy of Parliament and was eventually succeeded in the 19th c. by the Liberal Party (opp. TORY 2).
2 a 17th-c. Scottish Presbyterian.
3 US a a supporter of the American Revolution. b a member of an American political party in the 19th c., succeeded by the Republicans.
Derivative:
Whiggery n. Whiggish adj. Whiggism n.
Etymology:
prob. a shortening of Sc. whiggamer, -more, nickname of 17th-c. Sc. rebels, f. whig to drive + MARE(1)