patriot

plural patriots

1. A person who loves and zealously supports and defends their country.

   Here Tears ſhall flovv from a more gen'rous Cauſe, / Such Tears as Patriots ſhed for dying Lavvs: […]

   1712 (date written), [Alexander] Pope, “Prologue, by Mr. Pope. Spoken by Mr. [Robert] Wilks.”, in [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC

   5 more examples

   'My country, right or wrong,' is a thing that no patriot would think of saying except in a desperate case. It is like saying, 'My mother, drunk or sober.'

   1901, G[ilbert] K[eith] Chesterton, “A Defence of Patriotism”, in The Defendant, London: R. Brimley Johnson, →OCLC, page 125

   The difference between patriotism and nationalism is that the patriot is proud of his country for what it does, and the nationalist is proud of his country no matter what it does; the first attitude creates a feeling of responsibility, but the second a feeling of blind arrogance that leads to war.

   1953, Sydney J. Harris, “Purely Personal Prejudices”, in Strictly Personal, Regnery, page 228

   Good thing there are loads of courageous anti-tax patriots (like Michelle Malkin!) willing to organize teabaggy protests designed to bring about a brave new world without bailouts, welfare, wars, or red tape […]

   2009 April 10, Michael Hogan, “The Government Would Suck at Throwing a Tea Party”, in Vanity Fair, archived from the original on 13 Apr 2016

   Nothing beats a gunboat. HMS Illustrious glided out of Portsmouth on Monday, past HMS Victory and cheering crowds of patriots. Within a week it will be off Gibraltar, a mere cannon shot from Cape Trafalgar.

   2013 August 14, Simon Jenkins, “Gibraltar and the Falklands deny the logic of history”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 22 Apr 2021

   Bad news for a certain kind of pedantic patriot (look away now, Jacob Rees-Mogg). Prince Charles has debased the English language – and in a letter to a foreign potentate, no less.

   2019 April 18, David Shariatmadari, “Ize on the prize: is Prince Charles the last guardian of British spelling?”, in The Guardian, →ISSN, archived from the original on 16 Aug 2019

2. archaicA fellow countryman, a compatriot.

   The aim of patriots, therefore, was to set limits to the power which the ruler should be allowed to exercise over the community.

   1859, John Stuart Mill, “(please specify the page)”, in On Liberty, London: John W[illiam] Parker and Son, […], →OCLC

1. USgovernmentA surface-to-air missile system.
2. American footballA member of the New England Patriots professional football team.

plural Patriots

1. informalAn individual Patriot missile.
2. UShistoricalA person who was in favor of American Independence from Britain during the American Revolution.
3. CanadahistoricalSynonym of Patriote (A devolution-of-power supporter in Lower Canada during the Canadian Rebellions of 1837-1838 (Patriots' War).)

   Synonyms: Patriote

4. CanadahistoricalA devolution-of-power supporter in Upper Canada during the Canadian Rebellions of 1837-1838 (Patriot War).