legitimist

American  

[li-jit-uh-mist] / lɪˈdʒɪt ə mɪst /

noun

1. a supporter of legitimate authority, especially of a claim to a throne based on direct descent.

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adjective

1. Also legitimistic of, relating to, or supporting legitimate authority.

legitimist British  

/ lɪˈdʒɪtɪmɪst /

noun

1. a monarchist who supports the rule of a legitimate dynasty or of its senior branch

2. (formerly) a supporter of the elder line of the Bourbon family in France

3. a supporter of legitimate authority

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adjective

1. of or relating to legitimists

Other Word Forms

• legitimism noun

Etymology

Origin of legitimist

1835–45; < Latin lēgitim ( us ) lawful ( legitim ) + -ist, modeled on French légitimiste

Example Sentences

Joseph de Maistre was "a fierce absolutist, a furious theocrat, an intransigent legitimist ... always and everywhere the champion of the hardest, narrowest and most inflexible dogmatism."

From Salon • Jul. 1, 2023

Indeed it did not perceive any essential distinction between the monarchical or legitimist and the national principles; and the error was under the circumstances not unnatural.

From The Promise of American Life by Croly, Herbert David

She and an American lady were living in a French family, who had had great losses, but who had aristocratic relations and acquaintances; she lived in a legitimist atmosphere, but it was not too severe.

From The Heritage of the Kurts, Volume II (of 2) by Bj?rnson, Bj?rnstjerne

Not because atheists and communists are related to the catholic and legitimist, but because they are more alien to him than the protestant and the liberal, because they are outside his circle.

From Selected Essays by Stenning, H. J.

Imagine me, for instance, in her place—me," she smiled, "the sole legitimist in Sampaolo.

From The Lady Paramount by Harland, Henry