From Irish tóraí (“pursuer”), from tóir (“pursuit”). The first recorded use in English is from a 1646 letter by James Butler, Earl of Ormond, to a Colonel O'Brien, describing bandits and thieves on main roadways.
Meanings
(UK, not-comparable) Of or belonging to the Tory Party or the Conservative Party.
(Canadian, not-comparable) Of or belonging to the Conservative Party of Canada, one of that party's predecessors, or an affiliated provincial political party.
From Irish tóraí (“pursuer”), from tóir (“pursuit”). The first recorded use in English is from a 1646 letter by James Butler, Earl of Ormond, to a Colonel O'Brien, describing bandits and thieves on main roadways.
Meanings
(UK) A member or supporter of the Conservative Party, which evolved from Royalist politicians; historically associated with upholding the rights of the monarchy and the privileges of the established Church.
(broadly) One who is like a British Tory; someone politically conservative.
(Canadian) A member or supporter of the Conservative Party of Canada, one of that party's predecessors, or an affiliated provincial political party.
The latest Tory budget continued the trend begun in 2000 by making further small cuts in family income taxes. 2008, David Mutimer, Canadian Annual Review of Politics and Public Affairs 2002, page 220:
(derogatory, historical) A member of the political factions that sought to prevent the exclusion of James, Duke of York, from the throne of England in the 17th century.
(derogatory, historical) An Irish rebel fighting against English rule at the end of the Confederate War and Cromwellian invasion; later extended to other rebels or bandits.
Ho! Master Teague, what is your story? / I went to the wood and kill’d a tory; / […] I hunted him in, and I hunted him out, / Three times through the bog, about and about; / When out of a bush I saw his head, / So I fired my gun, and I shot him dead. 1886, James Orchard Haliwell, The Nursery Rhymes of England, 5th edition, page 7:
(US, historical) A loyal British subject during the American Revolution.
(US, historical) A Union sympathizer in the Confederate States during the American Civil War.
ja トーリー (a member or supporter of the Conservative Party (UK, Canada)) · bg консерватор (a member or supporter of the Conservative Party (UK, Canada)) · ur پٹواری (someone politically conservative) · fr Tory (a member or supporter of the Conservative Party (UK, Canada)) · ka ტორი (a member or supporter of the Conservative Party (UK, Canada)) · cy Tori (a member or supporter of the Conservative Party (UK, Canada)) · ru то́ри (a member or supporter of the Conservative Party (UK, Canada)) · ja 保守党員 (a member or supporter of the Conservative Party (UK, Canada)) · hu tory (a member or supporter of the Conservative Party (UK, Canada)) · de Tory (a member or supporter of the Conservative Party (UK, Canada)) · cmn 保守黨員 /保守党员 (a member or supporter of the Conservative Party (UK, Canada)) · ga Tóraí (a member or supporter of the Conservative Party (UK, Canada)) · pl Torys (a member or supporter of the Conservative Party (UK, Canada))