English
Whig
Whig may come from Scots whiggamore ‘horse driver’.
- Scotsc. 1450–presentwhiggamore‘horse driver’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 2012Whig
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Scotsc. 1450–presentwhiggamore‘horse driver’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 2012Whig
Earliest quotation: 2012, Rebekah Higgitt, Why whiggish won't do: “One was a piece, Two Cheers for the Whig…”
Every English word from Scots whiggamore
Today it means
noun A member of an 18th- and 19th-century political party in Britain that was opposed to the Tories, and eventually became the Liberal Party.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Scots whiggamore / Whig