Dictionary:

Whig

  (hwĭg, wĭg)

1. A member of an 18th- and 19th-century British political party that was opposed to the Tories.
2. A supporter of the war against England during the American Revolution.
3. A 19th-century American political party formed to oppose the Democratic Party and favoring high tariffs and a loose interpretation of the Constitution.

[Probably short for Whiggamore, a member of a body of 17th-century Scottish Presbyterian rebels.]

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In British usage, originally a Scottish Presbyterian opponent of Anglican government; subsequently applied 1679 to those who opposed the succession of the Catholic James II to the throne (see Locke) and thence to those who supported the ‘Glorious Revolution’ of 1689. They were in government for most of the eighteenth century, in opposition for most of the period following the French Revolution, and in government again after the 1832 Reform Act. In the nineteenth century the word was partly superseded by ‘Liberal’ but retained to denote the right-wing, aristocratic faction of liberalism. Most of its members joined the Tories in or after 1886.

In US usage, member of a party opposing the Democrats between 1834 and 1856; the name was chosen deliberately for its echoes of English resistance to the executive.

For more information on Whig, visit Britannica.com.

Whig may refer to:

Political parties and factions

In the United Kingdom

• Kirk Party, a faction of the Scottish Covenanters during the 17th-century Wars of the Three Kingdoms, and the original Whigs
• British Whig Party, one of two political parties in England and the United Kingdom from the 17th to 19th centuries
• Radical Whigs, a faction of British Whigs associated with the American Revolution
• A nickname for the Liberal Party, a UK political party that succeeded the British Whig Party
• A nickname for the Liberal Democrats, a UK political party formed in 1988 by the merger of the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party^[1]

In the United States

• Whig Party (United States), an American political party which operated from 1834-1856
• A nickname for Patriots, supporters of the American Revolution

Other

• True Whig Party, also known as the "Liberian Whig Party", Liberia's only legal political party from 1878 to 1980
• Confederate States Whig Party, a fictional political party created by alternate history author Harry Turtledove

Music

• The Whigs, a 2000s garage rock band
• The Afghan Whigs, a 1990s indie rock band

Newspapers

• Cecil Whig of Cecil County, Maryland, United States
• Kingston Whig Standard of Kingston, Ontario, Canada
• Knoxville Whig, of Knoxville, Tennessee, United States
• Quincy Herald-Whig of Quincy, Illinois, United States

Other uses

• American Whig-Cliosophic Society, also known as "Whig-Clio", a political, literary, and debating society at Princeton University
• White House Iraq Group, also known as the White House Information Group
• Whiggish historiography, a theoretical approach among historians

See also

• Wig (disambiguation)

Notes

1. ^ Examples of "Whig" used of LibDems: Fight the flour where a LibDem raffled VIP tickets, Guardian Unlimited Politics reminiscences by Laurence Howarth

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - populær betegnelse for gammelt liberalt engelsk parti

Nederlands (Dutch)
lid liberale partij (tegenover de Tories), voorstander van onafhankelijkheid in de Amerikaanse Revolutie, lid van de voorloper van de Amerikaanse Republikeinse partij

Français (French)
n. - (Pol, Hist) Whig
adj. - (Pol, Hist) whig

Deutsch (German)
n. - Whig
adj. - Whig-

Ελληνική (Greek)
n., -
adj. - (ιστ.) (Βρετ.) Ουίγος

Italiano (Italian)
liberale

Português (Portuguese)
n. - membro (m) de um partido político inglês favorável ao progresso

Русский (Russian)
виг, либерал, ханжа, нудный человек, относящийся к вигам, либеральный

Español (Spanish)
n. - miembro del Partido Liberal
adj. - liberal

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - anhängare till Whig-partiet, liberal
adj. - whig-, liberal

中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))
辉格党

中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 輝格黨

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 휘그당원, 휘그당

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - ホイッグ党員, ホイッグ党, 独立派

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) الهويغي أي عضو في حزب بريطاني, راديكالي أي أحد أفراد حزب الأحرار, أمريكي مؤيد للثروة على إنكلترا, عضو في حزب أميركي (صفه) هويغي‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮וויג - איש המפלגה הליברלית הבריטית במאה ה-91, תומך במהפכה האמריקאית, חבר במפלגה אמריקאית במאה ה-91 שהוחלפה ע"י הרפובליקנית‬

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