Whig English · revision 1012

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ʍɪɡ/, /wɪɡ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Probably a shortening of ''Whiggamore'',^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) the name of the Scottish Presbyterians from the west who marched on Edinburgh in 1648 to oppose Charles I.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) ''Whiggamore'' may originally have meant “horse drover”, from the dialect verb ''whig'' “to urge forward” and [[mare]].^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) Barnhart and Etymonline suggest that ''whigg'' “country bumpkin” (1640s) also played a part.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ An adherent of the Presbyterian cause in Scotland, a Covenanter (1657);^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) before that, a yokel or country bumpkin (c. 1645).^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ About 1679 the name was applied to the Exclusioners, who opposed the succession of the Catholic James, Duke of York,^(OED 1989) and from 1689 it named one of the two great British political parties, opposed to the Tories and favouring parliamentary power and reform.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) In America a ''Whig'' was a colonist who supported the Revolution (1768),^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) and later an opponent of Andrew Jackson;^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) the Whig party formed in 1834 and merged into the Republican party in 1854–56.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1645 – a country bumpkin.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1649 – ''Whiggamore''.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1657 – a Scottish Presbyterian.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1679 – an Exclusioner.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1689 – a member of the British party.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1768 – an American supporter of the Revolution.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1834 – a member of the American Whig party.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A member or supporter of a British political party of the late 17th to the 19th centuries that sought to limit royal power and increase that of [[Parliament]], opposed to the [[Tory|alt=Tories]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # An American who supported independence from Britain during the [[American Revolution]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A member of an American political party formed about 1834 in opposition to the Democrats, favouring high tariffs and a strong legislature.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Whiggery]]

+ * [[Whiggish]]

+ * [[Whiggism]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Tory]]

+ * [[Whiggamore]]

+ * [[Covenanter]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}