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

Derived Forms

• legitimism
  noun

Etymology

Origin of legitimist

1835–45; < Latin lēgitim ( us ) lawful ( see 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

The legitimist financiers have shown a decided objection to my wife appearing on the stage.

From Black Diamonds by Jókai, Mór

In these two ode collections, though the Catholic and legitimist inspiration is everywhere apparent, there is nothing revolutionary in the language or verse forms.

From A History of English Romanticism in the Nineteenth Century by Beers, Henry A. (Henry Augustin)

They adopted a strict legitimist theory of the descent of the crown, and denied the right of parliament to deal with the succession.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 5 English History by Various

He is thus a legitimist with a difference.

From A Short History of French Literature by Saintsbury, George