# republican

Pronunciation: US say "ri-PUB-li-kun" /ɹɪˈpʌblɪkən/; UK

## Noun · Republican

1. Someone who belongs to or supports the Republican Party, which is the more right-wing of the two major American parties. *(US)*
   - Simple: A member or supporter of the Republican Party, the more right-wing of the two big US political parties.
   - _She grew up in a family of Democrats but registered as a Republican at eighteen._
   - _Several Republicans joined Democrats in voting to pass the budget._
6. An Irish nationalist who supports the cause of a united Ireland. *(British, Ireland)*
   - Simple: An Irish nationalist who wants Ireland to be united as one country.
   - _As a lifelong Republican, he never accepted the border between North and South._
   - _Unionists and Republicans sat at the same table for the first time in years._
4. A backer of the left-wing government side, rather than the Nationalist rebels, in the Spanish Civil War. *(historical)*
   - Simple: In the Spanish Civil War, a supporter of the government side, which was the left-wing side.
   - _As a Republican in the Spanish Civil War, he fled across the Pyrenees into France when Franco's forces took Barcelona._
   - _Thousands of foreign volunteers crossed the Pyrenees to fight alongside the Republicans._
8. In French politics, a member of the right-wing party Les Républicains.
   - Simple: Someone who belongs to Les Républicains, a right-wing party in France.
   - _As a Republican, the French senator opposed raising taxes on small businesses._
   - _France's Republicans and Socialists both lost ground in the regional vote._

## Adjective · Republican

2. Relating to or belonging to the Republican Party of the United States. *(US)*
   - Simple: Belonging to or connected with the Republican Party in the US.
   - _Party leaders said Republican lawmakers would block the proposal in committee._
   - _Over the past decade the district has become safe Republican territory._
7. Relating to the period of the Republic of China's rule on the Chinese mainland, from 1912 to 1949.
   - Simple: Having to do with the Republic of China's rule on the Chinese mainland, from 1912 to 1949.
   - _Historians of Republican China study how the new state tried to modernize its schools._
   - _The novel is set in Republican Shanghai, among dance halls and foreign banks._

## Adjective

3. Relating to a republic, or supporting a republic as a form of government rather than a monarchy.
   - Simple: To do with a republic, or in favor of a country being a republic instead of having a king or queen.
   - _Pamphlets full of republican ideas spread quickly among the colonists before the revolution._
   - _The country's republican movement has spent decades campaigning to replace the monarchy._

## Noun

5. A person who favors a republic as a form of government, rather than a monarchy.
   - Simple: A person who wants their country to be a republic, not ruled by a king or queen.
   - _A committed republican, she refused to stand when the band played the royal anthem._
   - _Many republicans argue that no one should inherit the right to lead the country._

## Noun · Republican

9. In Irish politics, a follower or member of the center-right party Fianna Fáil. *(dated, Ireland)*
   - Simple: Someone who belongs to or backs Fianna Fáil, a center-right party in Ireland.

## Other meanings

- (noun) Someone who belongs to Die Republikaner, a German far-right party.
- (noun) Another name for the American cliff swallow.
- (noun) Another name for the sociable weaver.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–2, 4, 6–9** — From the adjective republican ("favoring a republic").
**Meanings 3, 5** — Formed from republic + -an, partly modeled on French républicain.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/republican (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).