Girondist

[juh-ron-dist]

noun

1. French History.,  a member of a political party (1791–93) of moderate republicans whose leaders were deputies from the department of Gironde.

adjective

1. of or relating to the Girondists.

Girondist

/ dʒɪˈrɒndɪst /

noun

1. a member of a party of moderate republicans during the French Revolution, many of whom came from Gironde: overthrown (1793) by their rivals the Jacobins See also Jacobin

adjective

1. of or relating to the Girondists or their principles

Other Word Forms

• Girondism noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of Girondist¹

From the French word Girondiste, dating back to 1785–95. See Gironde, -ist

Example Sentences

Lenin drew on the Jacobin heritage as an inspiration for his own revolutionary organisation in Russia, and dismissed those who opposed him as “Girondists”.

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But when the Girondists are overthrown, Thérèse chooses to stand by her man and follow her husband to the scaffold rather than escape with the nobleman.

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We all know how parties who contended in the course of the Revolution have gone on attempting to justify their historical representation of it—Emigrants and Feuillans, Girondists and Montagnards, Bonapartists and Communists.

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His violent attacks on the Girondists led to his arrest on the 24th of May 1793, but he was released owing to the threatening attitude of the mob.

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Lamartine's glowing imagination gave to the Girondists a grandeur largely ideal.

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