Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Relating to a republic: Having the supreme power vested in the people and exercised by their elected representatives. Characteristic of a government without a hereditary monarch.
   • (Republican): Relating to or belonging to the Republican Party, one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States.

2. Noun:

   • An advocate of a republic: A person who supports a system of government in which the people hold power through elected representatives, typically in opposition to a monarchy.
   • (Republican): A member or supporter of the Republican Party in the United States.
   • (Proper noun, capitalized): A tributary of the Kansas River flowing from Colorado through Nebraska and Kansas.

Examples of Usage

• Adjective:

  • The nation adopted a republican constitution after abolishing the monarchy.
  • She holds strong republican ideals about civic duty.
  • The Republican candidate won the senate seat.

• Noun:

  • He was a staunch republican who argued against the crown.
  • My father has been a registered Republican for twenty years.
  • The Republican River basin is an important agricultural region.

Advanced Usage

• Small-'r' republican: Refers to the general principle of supporting a republic, distinct from membership in the U.S. political party. One can be a small-'r' republican (believing in republican government) without being a capital-'R' Republican (a member of the party).
  • Many of the founding fathers were republicans in philosophy, favoring elected government over monarchy.

Variants and Related Words

• Republicanism (n): The political ideology or principles of a republic; support for a republican system of government.
  • The core of his philosophy was republicanism and individual liberty.
• Republicanize (v, rare): To convert to or organize as a republic.
• Anti-republican (adj/n): Opposed to republican principles or a republic.

Synonyms

• (For the political philosophy): Anti-monarchist, democrat (in the classical sense of supporting popular sovereignty).
• (For the U.S. party member): GOP member (GOP stands for "Grand Old Party," a nickname for the Republican Party).

Antonyms

• (For the political philosophy): Monarchist, royalist.
• (For the U.S. party): Democrat (member of the other major U.S. political party).

Related Phrases

• Republican form of government: A phrase used in the U.S. Constitution (Article IV, Section 4) guaranteeing each state a government based on representative democracy.
  • The Constitution requires the United States to guarantee every state a republican form of government.
• Republican Party platform: The official set of principles and policies adopted by the Republican Party.

Adjective

1. having the supreme power lying in the body of citizens entitled to vote for officers and representatives responsible to them or characteristic of such government
   • the United States shall guarantee to every state in this union a republican form of government- United States Constitution
   • a very republican notion
   • so little republican and so much aristocratic sentiment- Philip Marsh
   • our republican and artistic simplicity-Nathaniel Hawthorne
2. relating to or belonging to the Republican Party
   • a Republican senator
   • Republican party politics

Noun

1. a tributary of the Kansas River that flows from eastern Colorado eastward through Nebraska and Kansas
2. an advocate of a republic (usually in opposition to a monarchy)
3. a member of the Republican Party