Ghibelline

American  

[gib-uh-lin, -leen] / ˈgɪb ə lɪn, -ˌlin /

noun

1. a member of the aristocratic party in medieval Italy and Germany that supported the claims of the German emperors against the papacy: politically opposed to the Guelphs.

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adjective

1. of or relating to the Ghibellines.

Ghibelline British  

/ ˈɡɪbɪˌlaɪn, -ˌliːn /

noun

1. a member of the political faction in medieval Italy originally based on support for the German emperor

2. (modifier) of or relating to the Ghibellines Compare Guelph 1

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Other Word Forms

• Ghibellinism
  noun

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Etymology

Origin of Ghibelline

1565–75; < Italian Ghibellino < Middle High German *wībeling- ( German Waiblingen ) a Hohenstaufen estate in Germany

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Ghibelline

Guelph comes from hwelp or whelp, meaning a wolf's pup, and Ghibelline is an Italian attempt to pronounce the name of the counts of Waiblingen.

From Time Magazine Archive

But the trend had been beaten down through the centuries when the peninsula served as the cockpit of Guelph and Ghibelline, despot and noble, rival Spaniard, Frenchman and German.

From Time Magazine Archive

Moved by the reasons stated above, I believe, the Venetians encouraged the Guelf and Ghibelline sects in their subject cities.

From "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli

The family is Ghibelline, and have taken the French side, and seeing that Tremouille was between us and Casale, my lady must needs go down to visit her estates.

From The Honour of Savelli A Romance by S. (Sidney) Levett-Yeats

The Ghibelline cause, on the other hand, was aided by the dislike of the temporal power of the pope and the desire for a strong central authority.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 6 "Groups, Theory of" to "Gwyniad" by Various

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