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.
Derivatives:
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)