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• irredentist
  irredentist

  noun

  a member of an Italian association that became prominent in 1878, advocating the redemption, or the incorporation into Italy, of certain neighboring regions Italia irredenta having a primarily Italian population.
• Irredentist
  Irredentist

  noun

  (sometimes not capital) a member of an Italian association prominent in 1878 that sought to recover for Italy certain neighbouring regions ( Italia irredenta ) with a predominantly Italian population that were under foreign control

irredentist

American  

[ir-i-den-tist] / ˌɪr ɪˈdɛn tɪst /

noun

1. (usually initial capital letter) a member of an Italian association that became prominent in 1878, advocating the redemption, or the incorporation into Italy, of certain neighboring regions Italia irredenta having a primarily Italian population.

2. a member of a party in any country advocating the acquisition of some region included in another country by reason of cultural, historical, ethnic, racial, or other ties.

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adjective

1. pertaining to or supporting such a party or its doctrine.

irredentist ¹ British  

/ ˌɪrɪˈdɛntɪst /

noun

1. a person who favours the acquisition of territory that once was part of his country or is considered to have been

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or advocating this belief

Irredentist ² British  

/ ˌɪrɪˈdɛntɪst /

noun

1. (sometimes not capital) a member of an Italian association prominent in 1878 that sought to recover for Italy certain neighbouring regions ( Italia irredenta ) with a predominantly Italian population that were under foreign control

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Other Word Forms

• irredentism noun

Etymology

Origin of irredentist

First recorded in 1880–85; from Italian irredentista, equivalent to (Italia) irredent(a) “(Italy) unredeemed” (feminine of irredento, equivalent to ir- ir- ² + redento, from Latin redemptus; see redemption) + -ista -ist

Example Sentences

Instead, Mr. Putin spent much of the interview subjecting a baffled Mr. Carlson to an irredentist teach-in on 1,000 years of Eastern European history, leaving the former Fox News host, by his own admission, “shocked.”

From New York Times • Feb. 9, 2024

But if irredentist resentment lurked, alongside a Soviet spy’s suspicion of the U.S.,

From Seattle Times • Mar. 26, 2022

National unification can appeal even to people who oppose an irredentist regime in other respects.

From Washington Post • Dec. 14, 2021

Andrei Znamenski, a history professor at the University of Memphis, said that irredentist calls to reclaim Alaska were not limited to extremists.

From New York Times • Mar. 30, 2017

At the office of the "Giornale d'Italia" in the Corso there was displayed beside an irredentist map an approximate sketch of what Austria was willing to give, under German persuasion.

From The World Decision by Herrick, Robert