Whig
noun/wɪɡ/
/wɪɡ/
- in Britain in the past, a member of a party that supported progress and change and that later became the Liberal PartyCultureThe Whig party was established in the late 17th century. The Whigs believed that Parliament should have more power than the king or queen, and supported the Hanoverian kings against the Stuarts. They believed in religious freedom and political reforms . The Whigs, who were mainly rich businessmen and people who owned land in the country, were in power for the first half of the 18th century. In the 19th century they became part of the Liberal Party.compare ToryWord Originmid 17th cent. (originally referring to a 17th-century Scottish Presbyterian): probably a shortening of Scots whiggamore, the nickname of 17th-cent. Scottish rebels, from whig ‘to drive’ + mare ‘female horse or donkey’.
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