The story
First attested in the 17th century, originally in sense 2, with high meaning “extreme”. Compare High Tory.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
high churchman
Today it means: A member of the Church of England who prioritises those aspects of Anglicanism which distinguish it from Calvinism and other Protestant denominations, and which it has in common with Catholicism, especially the authority of the priesthood and the importance of church ritual. Full definition →