tory

n.; pl. Tories [ Properly used of the Irish bogtrotters who robbed and plundered during the English civil wars, professing to be in sympathy with the royal cause; hence transferred to those who sought to maintain the extreme prerogatives of the crown; probably from Ir. toiridhe, tor, a pursuer; akin to Ir. & Gael. toir a pursuit. ] 1. (Eng. Politics) A member of the conservative party, as opposed to the progressive party which was formerly called the Whig, and is now called the Liberal, party; an earnest supporter of existing royal and ecclesiastical authority. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The word Tory first occurs in English history in 1679, during the struggle in Parliament occasioned by the introduction of the bill for the exclusion of the duke of York from the line of succession, and was applied by the advocates of the bill to its opponents as a title of obloquy or contempt. The Tories subsequently took a broader ground, and their leading principle became the maintenance of things as they were. The name, however, has for several years ceased to designate an existing party, but is rather applied to certain traditional maxims of public policy. The political successors of the Tories are now commonly known as Conservatives. New Am. Cyc. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Amer. Hist.) One who, in the time of the Revolution, favored submitting to the claims of Great Britain against the colonies; an adherent to the crown. [ 1913 Webster ]