- Tory
- Tory [tôr′ē]n.pl. Tories [Ir tōruidhe, robber, pursuer < tōir, to pursue; akin to Gael tōir, pursuit]1. [sometimes t-]a) in the 17th cent., any of the dispossessed Irish who became outlaws, killed English settlers and soldiers, and lived by plunderingb) later, an armed Irish Catholic or Royalist2. in 1679-1680, a person who opposed the exclusion of James, Duke of York, from succession to the English throne3. after 1689, a member of one of the two major political parties of England: opposed to Whig, and later, to Liberal, Radical, Laborite; changed officially c. 1830 to Conservative4. in the American Revolution, a person who advocated or actively supported continued allegiance to Great Britain5. [often t-] any extreme conservative; reactionaryadj.[also t-] of, being, or having the conservative principles of a ToryToryismn.
English World dictionary. V. Neufeldt. 2014.