Yorkist, n. (a.)
(ˈjɔːkɪst)
[f. York n.1 (see below) + -ist.]
1. An adherent of the house of York, the English royal family which based its title on its descent from Lionel, Duke of Clarence, and Edmund, Duke of York (died 1402), the third and the fifth sons of Edw. III; or one of the party (whose emblem was the White Rose) which supported this family in the Wars of the Roses.
| 1601 Weever Mirr. Mart. C v, Then high-resolued Hotspur,..Join'd with the Yorkists, made a mutinie. 1643 Baker Chron., Hen. VI (1653) 280 From whence Richard Beauchampe Bishop of Salisbury, is sent to offer the Yorkists a full and generall pardon. 1726–31 Tindal Rapin's Hist. Eng. (1743) I. xii. 583/1 The King having advanced with design to give Battle, the Yorkists sent him a very submissive Letter. 1829 Scott Anne of G. xxiv, Offering with large sums of money to purchase England to the Yorkists. 1856 Miss Mulock John Halifax v, The Vineyards had been a battle-field; and under the long wavy grass..slept many a Yorkist and Lancastrian. |
b. attrib. or as adj.
| 1823 S. Turner Hist. Eng. III. ii. 321 The Christmas of 1469, seemed to have ended all hostilities between these two Yorkist parties. 1861 Sat. Rev. 7 Dec. 586 The Yorkist poems are numerous. There is one on the reconciliation of Henry and Duke Richard. 1864 Boutell Her. Hist. & Pop. xx. (ed. 3) 339 The Yorkist Collar is formed of suns and roses. |
2. A supporter of James, Duke of York (c 1680), in his claim to succeed to the crown on the death of his brother, Charles II.
| 1681 Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) I. 124 The former [party] are called by the latter, tories, tantivies, Yorkists, high-flown church men, &c. a 1734 North Examen ii. v. §9 (1740) 321 It is easy to imagine how rampant these Procurators of Power, the Exclusioners, were..: Every where insulting and menacing the Loyallists... This Trade..naturally led to a common Use of slighting and opprobrious Words; such as Yorkist. [1858 Knight Pop. Hist. Eng. IV. xxi. 350 The anti-exclusionists were first called Yorkists.] |
3. An inhabitant of York: = Yorker1 1. rare.
| 1796 Sporting Mag. VII. 55 Once a Cockney and Yorkist maintain'd a dispute, Whether London or York was of oldest repute. |