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 ( 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 chairman of the constitutional committee was a legitimist, and he, inspired by the abbé de Genoude, of the Gazette de France, and opposed by Odilon Barrot, insisted on the pure logic of absolute democracy.

From The History of Freedom by Acton, John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton, Baron

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)

He is thus a legitimist with a difference.

From A Short History of French Literature by Saintsbury, George

You may imagine how cruelly I suffered, both as a fiancée and as a legitimist.

From The Cross of Berny by Fendall, Florence