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

See Examples For:

legitimist

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

In 1827, Mazzini joined the Carbonari, or Charcoalmen, a society which worked in different countries with one aim—opposition to the despot and the legitimist.

From Heroes of Modern Europe by Birkhead, Alice

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

An old and exceedingly eccentric French legitimist was the special attraction of this, and French was the only language spoken.

From On the Heights A Novel by Auerbach, Berthold

Finding himself alone in Paris, where his only resource was the admiration of a few elderly "legitimist" ladies of the aristocratic Faubourg Saint Germain, he left for Vienna.

From The Enemies of Women (Los enemigos de la mujer) by Blasco Ib??ez, Vicente