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legitimist

legitimist

9.5
A person who supports a rightful king or queen's claim to the throne
  • noun
  • /lɪˈdʒɪtɪmɪst/
  • Archaic
translation icon : legitimista
  • During the debate, the legitimist passionately defended the idea of legitimate royal succession.

Examples

  • When the legitimist asks whether Corner Man really owns his corner, he is not asking whether Corner Man should own his corner.

    Blog text (24)
  • One synonym for reactionary is legitimist.

    Blog text (24)
  • To be a legitimist and demand the return of the Bourbons (as many reactionaries did) is to threaten the existing order and bring about violence.

    Blog text (24)
  • Simultaneously, Legitimists and clericals proposed that France's future glory lay in a return to the values of its past, with a homogeneous, largely Catholic body politic supporting a strong monarch.

    Academic text (2003)
  • The legitimist believes that the rightful heir should be on the throne and seeks to restore them to power.

  • As a legitimist, she supported the restoration of the monarchy in France to its rightful rulers.

Surface Forms

legitimist singular
legitimists plural

Morphology

legitimist = legitimate (transparent) = legitimate + ist

A straightforward agentive formation: 'legitimate' (supporting lawful claim) + '-ist' yields 'a supporter of legitimacy', which is directly inferable.

Etymology

Legitimist comes from the Latin root legitimus meaning 'lawful' and the ending -ist meaning 'person who supports'. So a legitimist is a person who supports the lawful or true heir to the throne.