Whig
Whig originally, an adherent of the Presbyterian cause in Scotland in the 17th century; the name is probably a shortening of Scots Whiggamore. At the end of the 17th century, Whig designated a person who opposed the succession of the Catholic James II to the crown; an exclusioner.
From the early 18th century, Whig was used for a member of the British reforming and constitutional party that after 1688 sought the supremacy of Parliament and was eventually succeeded in the 19th century by the Liberal Party. The name was further applied, again in the early 18th century, to an American colonist who supported the American Revolution.
Whig historian a historian who interprets history as the continuing and inevitable victory of progress over reaction; the term is first recorded in George Bernard Shaw's preface to St Joan (1924).
From the early 18th century, Whig was used for a member of the British reforming and constitutional party that after 1688 sought the supremacy of Parliament and was eventually succeeded in the 19th century by the Liberal Party. The name was further applied, again in the early 18th century, to an American colonist who supported the American Revolution.
Whig historian a historian who interprets history as the continuing and inevitable victory of progress over reaction; the term is first recorded in George Bernard Shaw's preface to St Joan (1924).
More From encyclopedia.com
NEARBY TERMS
Whig