loyalist

Etymology

It is formed from English loyal + -ist.^[2][3][4][5] Loyal is from French loyal, from Old French loial, leial, from Latin lēgālis, from lēx (“law”),^[3][2] and is the same word as legal, which keeps the Latin form, and as leal, an older borrowing of the French word.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person who stays loyal to the sovereign or to the established government, especially in a time of revolt: 1647, according to the 1989 edition of the OED and Merriam-Webster Unabridged.^[6][7] The current OED's first record is the title of a work by J. Kettlewell (1685),^[2] and Etymonline dates the word to the 1680s, as "partisan supporter of an existing or recent government".^[3] Dictionary.com dates it to 1640–50.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Johnson (1755) defined a loyalist as one who professes uncommon devotion to his king.^[8] The word was soon applied to the sides of particular conflicts.^[7][4] In the American Revolution the Loyalists were the colonists who opposed separation from Great Britain,^[7][9][4] and many of them settled in the eastern provinces of Canada during the Revolution and after it;^[10] the Canadian dictionary's first record of the word is from the Quebec Gazette in 1779.^[10] In Canada the word can still mean a descendant of these settlers, short for United Empire Loyalist.^[9][4][10] In the United States it was also used for a supporter of the Union in the Civil War, especially in a Southern state,^[7] and during the Spanish Civil War for a supporter of the republican government.^[7][9][11] In Northern Ireland a Loyalist is a supporter, usually Protestant, of the union with Great Britain,^[9][4] and the Shorter Oxford notes that the word now chiefly means a supporter of political union with a state.^[4] The attributive or adjectival use, as in loyalist areas, is recorded from 1885.^[2][4]

Timeline

• 1647 – a person loyal to the sovereign or the established government.^[6][7] The current OED dates it to 1685.^[2]
• 1779 – in Canada, one of the Loyalists who left the American colonies.^[10]
• 1885 – attributive or adjectival use.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person who stays loyal to a government, sovereign, party or cause, especially in a time of revolt: The general was a loyalist to the end.^[7][9][2]
2. (usually capitalized) An American colonist who supported Britain in the American Revolution; in Canada, also a descendant of those who moved there.^{[7][9][4][10]}
3. (usually capitalized) In Northern Ireland, a supporter, usually Protestant, of the union with Great Britain.^[9][4]
4. (usually capitalized) A supporter of the republican government in the Spanish Civil War.^[7][9][11]
5. A supporter of the Union in the American Civil War, especially in a Southern state.^[7]

Adjective

1. Of or relating to loyalists or loyalism.^[4][2]

Word family

• loyalism

Related words

• loyal
• loyalty
• legal
• leal

Usage notes

Etymonline distinguishes the word from Loyolist, a follower of Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits.^[3] In Irish contexts Loyalist is often contrasted with Unionist, the latter being less associated with paramilitary groups.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
9. ^ a b c d e f g h Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ a b c d e Dollinger, Stefan, ed., A Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles, 3rd ed. (online), Vancouver: University of British Columbia, dchp.arts.ubc.ca
11. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin