[f. ABHOR v. + -ER1.]
1. One who abhors.
1611. Cotgr., Haineur, a hater, loather, detester, abhorrer.
c. 1660. Jer. Taylor, Artif. Hands, 134. Those things, whereof they sometimes were great abhorrers.
1705. Hickeringill, Priest-Craft, II. viii. 89. A Protestant Succession, of which the Highflyers are generally Abhorrers.
1827. Hallam, Const. Hist. (1876), I. iv. 195. Every abhorrer of ceremonies … might be trusted as protestant to the heart’s core.
2. Eng. Hist. A nickname given in 1680 to those who signed addresses of ABHORRENCE.
1680. Political Ballads (1860), I. 214. This makes abhorrers, makes lords protest, They know not why nor wherefore.
1682. Second Plea for Nonconf., 78. Abhorrers of Addresses, and Non-Addresses.
1757. Tindal, Rapin, anno 1679–80. As soon as the parliament was prorogued, and the duke of York at court, many addresses were presented in abhorrence of the former, so that two parties were formed, called the petitioners and abhorrers.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., I. ii. 256. Opponents of the Court were called Birminghams, Petitioners, and Exclusionists. Those who took the King’s side were Antibirminghams, Abhorrers, and Tantivies.
1870. Curtis, Hist. Eng., anno 1680. The factions were known by the names of petitioners and abhorrers, terms which soon became superseded by whig and tory.
