Jacobites

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A group of supporters for the restoration of the Stuart monarchy in Britain, primarily active in the late 17th and early 18th centuries
2. Individuals who sought to bring back James II and his descendants to the throne after the Glorious Revolution
3. A political faction known for uprisings against the British government, particularly in relation to the 1715 and 1745 rebellions

Etymology: "Jacobites" is the plural of "Jacobite," and the name comes straight from the Latin for James. The Latin "Jācōbus" is the source of the English "James," and the Latin form itself traces back to the Hebrew name Jacob. The suffix "-ite" marks a follower or adherent, so a Jacobite was, in essence, a partisan of James. The James in question was King James II of England (James VII of Scotland), who was deposed in the Glorious Revolution of 1688. After he fled into exile, supporters who hoped to restore him and then his heirs took the Latinised form of his name as their label, and the term came to name the movement as a whole. The name carried a political identity: to be a Jacobite was to back the exiled Stuart line against the Protestant monarchs who replaced it.