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

They adopted a strict legitimist theory of the descent of the crown, and denied the right of parliament to deal with the succession.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 5 English History by Various

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 Berthold Auerbach

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 Vicente Blasco Ib??ez

Indeed it did not perceive any essential distinction between the monarchical or legitimist and the national principles; and the error was under the circumstances not unnatural.

From The Promise of American Life by Herbert David Croly