One of a political party which grew up in England in the
   seventeenth century, in the reigns of Charles I. and II., when great
   contests existed respecting the royal prerogatives and the rights of
   the people. Those who supported the king in his high claims were called
   Tories, and the advocates of popular rights, of parliamentary power
   over the crown, and of toleration to Dissenters, were, after 1679,
   called Whigs. The terms Liberal and Radical have now generally
   superseded Whig in English politics. See the note under Tory.