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 plundering

b) later, an armed Irish Catholic or Royalist

2. in 1679-1680, a person who opposed the exclusion of James, Duke of York, from succession to the English throne

3. 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 Conservative

4. in the American Revolution, a person who advocated or actively supported continued allegiance to Great Britain

5. [often t-] any extreme conservative; reactionary

adj.

[also t-] of, being, or having the conservative principles of a Tory

Toryism

n.