Re*pub"lic*an (r?-p?b"l?-kan), n. 1. One who favors or prefers a republican form of government.
2. (U.S.Politics) A member of the
Republican party.
3. (Zoöl.) (a) The American cliff swallow. The cliff swallows build their nests side by side,
many together.
(b) A South African weaver bird (Philetærus socius). These weaver birds build many nests together, under a large
rooflike shelter, which they make of
straw.
Red republican. See under Red.
Re*pub"lic*an (-l?-kan),
a. [F. républicain.]
1. Of or pertaining to a republic.
The Roman emperors were republican
magistrates named by the senate.
Macaulay.
2. Consonant with the principles of a republic; as, republican sentiments or
opinions; republican manners.
Republican party. (U.S. Politics) (a) An earlier name of the Democratic party when it was
opposed to the Federal party. Thomas
Jefferson was its great leader. (b) One of the existing great parties. It was organized in 1856 by a combination of voters from other parties for the purpose of opposing the extension of slavery, and in 1860 it
elected Abraham Lincoln president.
Hear it pronounced