Republican Party

American  

noun

1. one of the two major political parties in the U.S.: originated 1854–56.

2. U.S. History. Democratic-Republican Party.

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Republican Party British  

noun

1. the more conservative of the two major political parties in the US: established around 1854 Compare Democratic Party

2. any of a number of political parties in other countries, usually so named to indicate their opposition to monarchy

3. history another name for the Democratic-Republican Party

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Republican party ¹ Cultural  

1. A political party that began in 1854 and is today one of the two major political parties in the United States. Originally, it was composed mainly of northerners from both major parties of the time, the Democrats and the Whigs, with some former Know-Nothings as well. The first Republicans were united by their opposition to the expansion of slavery. Their first winning presidential candidate was Abraham Lincoln in 1860.

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Republican party ² Cultural  

1. One of the two major political parties in the United States. The party began in 1854 (see under “American History to 1865”); Abraham Lincoln, elected in 1860, was the first Republican president. During Reconstruction, many Republicans were eager to punish the South for its former slaveholding and for its secession from the United States. The northern Republicans, for example, supported carpetbaggers in southern governments. After Reconstruction, the Republicans favored a high protective tariff and were generally considered the defenders of northeastern and business interests. The party supported the Spanish-American War and the expansion of United States territory overseas. Some Republicans were part of the Progressive movement of the early twentieth century. In the 1920s, the party reestablished its reputation for supporting business and as being wary of any expansion of the place of government in national life. This characterization is still a reasonably accurate, if simplistic, description of basic Republican views. Since Lincoln, the Republican presidents have been Andrew Johnson, Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, Chester A. Arthur, Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and George W. Bush.

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Discover More

The party's symbol (see also symbol) is an elephant.

The party is often called the GOP, which stands for “Grand Old Party.”

Compare meaning

How does republican-party compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• Democratic Party vs. Republican Party

Example Sentences

“Antisemitism has no place in the Republican Party, higher education or our country,” he wrote.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 2026

In Kern County, Scrivner has numerous political connections in the Republican Party and beyond.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 8, 2026

He volunteered for the Republican Party and, again, he stole from them.

From BBC • Dec. 31, 2025

The two students killed were Ella Cook, vice president of Brown's Republican Party association, and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, originally from Uzbekistan, who had hoped to become a neurosurgeon.

From Barron's • Dec. 19, 2025

The word group, for instance, is a term used to describe everything from a basketball team to the Teamsters Union, from two couples on a holiday to the Republican Party.

From "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell