Chartists

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A group of political activists in the 19th century advocating for significant democratic reforms in Britain, especially universal suffrage and better representation
2. Individuals who supported the People's Charter in the 1830s, seeking rights such as voting for all men, secret ballots, and equal electoral districts
3. Advocates of a movement for reform in Britain that aimed to promote the political rights of the working class and democratize parliamentary representation

Etymology: The Chartists were a mass working-class movement in Britain in the 1830s and 1840s, and the name came from the "People's Charter" of 1838, a set of six demands for parliamentary reform including universal male suffrage and secret ballots. The word itself is a plain formation: English "chart" (a document, from the same root as "charter") plus the agent suffix "-ist," which comes down through Old French and Latin from Ancient Greek "-istes," used for someone who practises or supports a cause. So a Chartist was, quite literally, a supporter of the Charter. The plural "chartists" simply names more than one such person. The suffix pattern is the same one found in words like "socialist" or "journalist," which is why the name reads as naturally as it does.