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

I know not whether it was the cause or the consequence of this sentiment that Balzac was a thorough legitimist.

From Hours in a Library, Volume I. (of III.) by Stephen, Leslie, Sir

This friend informed him that the legitimist party was about to attempt the reconquest of the realm.

From International Miscellany of Literature, Art and Science, Vol. 1, No. 3, Oct. 1, 1850 by Various

Imagine me, for instance, in her place—me," she smiled, "the sole legitimist in Sampaolo.

From The Lady Paramount by Harland, Henry

He is thus a legitimist with a difference.

From A Short History of French Literature by Saintsbury, George