liberal

English

Etymology

The adjective is from Old French liberal, from Latin līberālis (“befitting a freeman”), from līber (“free”); it is attested since the 14th century. The noun is first attested in the 1800s.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: lĭbʹrəl, IPA^(key): /ˈlɪbɹəl/
• (General American) enPR: lĭbʹərəl, IPA^(key): /ˈlɪbəɹəl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: (Received Pronunciation) -ɪbɹəl

Adjective

liberal (comparative more liberal, superlative most liberal)

1. (now rare outside set phrases) Pertaining to those arts and sciences the study of which is considered to provide general knowledge, as opposed to vocational/occupational, technical or mechanical training.

   He had a full education studying the liberal arts.

   • 1983, David Leslie Wagner, The Seven liberal arts in the Middle Ages:
   • 1997, Gordon D. Morgan, Toward an American Sociology: Questioning the European Construct, →ISBN, page 45:

     Americans remain enamored with Europe's ability to produce the consequential thought for America. It was the same in nearly every liberal field. Education sought its roots in such Europeans as Froebel, Frobenius, and Rousseau. Political science tried to connect to Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Nietzsche, Machiavelli, and Otto von Bismarck, for instance. Economics copied the thought of Adam Smith, […]

   • 2008, Donal G. Mulcahy, The Educated Person: Toward a New Paradigm for Liberal Education, →ISBN:
2. Generous; permitting liberty; willing to give unsparingly.

   He was liberal with his compliments.

   • 1899, J. M. Baltimore, “Pacific Coast Light Service”, in Overland Monthly, volume 33:

     Indeed, the Government has been very liberal in the expenditure of public money

   • 2005, John Gardner, Assessment and Learning, →ISBN, page 50:

     When he shows improvement she is liberal with her praise and then moves on to the next set of skills to be learnt.

   • 2007, Helena Page Schrader, The English Templar, →ISBN, page 309:

     Queen Isabella was already being called Santa Isabella by many of her subjects because she was liberal with her alms.

   • 2010, Simon Guillebaud, More Than Conquerors: A Call to Radical Discipleship, →ISBN, page 142:

     Was it because the believers were so liberal with their possessions that God was so liberal with his grace?

   • 2013 June 14, Jonathan Freedland, “Obama's once hip brand is now tainted”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 1, page 18:

     Now we are liberal with our innermost secrets, spraying them into the public ether with a generosity our forebears could not have imagined. Where we once sent love letters in a sealed envelope, or stuck photographs of our children in a family album, now such private material is despatched to servers and clouds operated by people we don't know and will never meet.

3. Ample, abundant; generous in quantity.

   Add a liberal sprinkling of salt.

   • 1896, Ice and refrigeration, volume 11, page 93:

     For this reason a liberal amount of piping should be used. If a liberal supply of piping is provided at first, the first cost will of course be greater, but the extra expenditure is called for but once.

   • 2009, R. Furman Kenney, Chesterville: The Village at the End of the Road, →ISBN, page 102:

     The result was usually that such helpers got a liberal sprinkling of mud over their clothing.

   • 2011, Marlene Perez, Dead Is Not an Option, →ISBN, page 37:

     Rose put a steaming cup of mint tea in front of me and spooned a liberal helping of honey into it.

4. (obsolete) Unrestrained, licentious.
   • 1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     Myself, my brother, and this grieved count,
     Did see her, hear her, at that hour last night,
     Talk with a ruffian at her chamber-window;
     Who hath indeed, most like a liberal villain,
     Confess'd the vile encounters they have had
     A thousand times in secret.

5. Widely open to new ideas, willing to depart from established opinions or conventions; permissive.

   Her parents had liberal ideas about child-rearing.

6. (politics) Open to political or social changes and reforms associated with either classical or modern liberalism.
   • 2021, Judith Rainhorn, The Colour of Controversy..., p. 10:

     Endorsing the liberal anti-interventionist credo that the marketplace should act as the "site of verification," the advocates of white lead opposed government intervention for the sake of open economic competition, which they claimed revealed its true value and thus should be the sole determinant: "When the railways were built, the stage coaches disppeared; they died a timely death. If zinc white is truly superior to white lead, it will kill us in the marketplace, but the government should not intervene." These were the words of Expert-Bezançon, in his February 1903 deposition to the parliamentary committee examining the bill for banning lead-based pigments in paint.

Usage notes

• Differences between the classical and modern political definitions of the word "liberal" can make some phrases ambiguous. For example, if one says a certain region has "liberal gun laws," this can be interpreted with two opposite meanings.

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “generous; permitting liberty”): authoritarian
• (antonym(s) of “widely open to new ideas”): conservative

Hyponyms

• small-l liberal

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Noun

liberal (plural liberals)

1. One with liberal views, supporting individual liberty (see Wikipedia's article on Liberalism).
2. (US politics) Someone with progressive or left-wing views; one with a left-wing ideology.
3. (politics) A supporter of any of several liberal parties.
4. (UK politics) One who favors individual voting rights, human and civil rights, and laissez-faire markets (also called "classical liberal"; compare libertarian).
5. (Australian politics) A conservative, especially a liberal conservative.

Coordinate terms

• moderate, conservative, progressive, libertarian, centrist

Derived terms

• neo-liberal, neoliberal

Translations

References

• “liberal”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• liberal in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
• "liberal" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 179.
• “liberal”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “liberal”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Further reading

• “liberal”, in Collins English Dictionary.
• “liberal”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “liberal”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “liberal”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.

Anagrams

• Braille, Briella, braille

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin līberālis (“befitting a freeman”), from līber (“free”). First attested in the 14th century.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central)
• IPA^(key): (Balearic)
• IPA^(key): (Valencian)
• Hyphenation: li‧be‧ral

Adjective

liberal m or f (masculine and feminine plural liberals)

1. generous.
2. tolerant, permissive.
3. (job) A job with economic autonomy and intellectual activity, as in liberal professionals
4. liberal, supporter of economic liberalism.

Derived terms

References

Further reading

• “liberal” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “liberal” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “liberal” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

German

Etymology

From Latin līberālis (“befitting a freeman”), from līber (“free”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌlibəˈʁaːl/, /ˌlɪ-/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aːl

Adjective

liberal (strong nominative masculine singular liberaler, comparative liberaler, superlative am liberalsten)

1. liberal; permissive; allowing personal freedoms

   Seine Eltern waren streng katholische Kirchgänger, aber liberal gegenüber ihren Kindern.

   His parents were strict Catholic church-goers, but were liberal towards their children.

2. (politics) libertarian; liberal in the traditional sense (see usage notes below)

   Die FDP ist die wichtigste liberale Partei in Deutschland.

   The FDP is Germany’s most important libertarian party.

Usage notes

• Liberale Parteien (“libertarian/liberal parties”) in German-speaking Europe are associated with support for free-market economy and small government. These parties most often represent the centre or even the centre-right of the political spectrum. The sense “left-wing”, which English liberal now often has, does not exist in the German word. When used of particular policies, German liberal means “permissive, rejecting legal restraints”. Thus, for example, left-wing parties are more likely to be liberal with regard to abortion, while right-wing parties are more likely to be liberal with regard to arms sales.

Declension

Derived terms

• liberalisieren
• Liberalismus

Further reading

• “liberal” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “liberal” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon

Indonesian

Etymology

From Dutch liberaal, from Middle French (Modern French libéral), from Old French liberal, from Latin līberālis (“befitting a freeman”), from līber (“free”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):
• Rhymes: -al
• Hyphenation: li‧bê‧ral

Adjective

libêral

1. liberal:
   1. widely open to new ideas, willing to depart from established opinions or conventions; permissive.
   2. open to political or social changes and reforms associated with either classical or modern liberalism.

Derived terms

Related terms

Further reading

• “liberal” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation — Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic Indonesia, 2016.

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From French libéral, from Latin liberalis.

Adjective

liberal (masculine and feminine liberal, neuter liberalt, definite singular and plural liberale)

1. liberal

References

• “liberal” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “liberal” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

Norwegian Nynorsk

Norwegian Nynorsk Wikipedia has an article on:

liberal

Wikipedia ⁿⁿ

Etymology

From French libéral, from Latin līberālis.

Adjective

liberal (neuter liberalt, definite singular and plural liberale)

1. liberal

References

• “liberal” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old French

Etymology

From Latin līberālis (“befitting a freeman”), from līber (“free”).

Adjective

liberal m (oblique and nominative feminine singular liberale)

1. appropriate for a free person
2. generous; giving

Descendants

• → English: liberal
• French: libéral

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin līberālis (“befitting a freeman”), from līber (“free”).

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
• Hyphenation: li‧be‧ral

Adjective

liberal m or f (plural liberais)

1. liberal, generous, tolerant
2. (politics) liberal

Derived terms

• liberalmente
• liberalóide

Noun

liberal m or f by sense (plural liberais)

1. (politics) liberal

Usage notes

In Brazil, the political sense of "liberal" is used to describe supporters of economic freedom, like classical liberals.

Romanian

Alternative forms

• либерал (liberal) — post-1930s Cyrillic spelling

Etymology

Borrowed from French libéral, from Latin liberalis. Equivalent to liber +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /libeˈral/
• Rhymes: -al
• Hyphenation: li‧be‧ral

Adjective

liberal m or n (feminine singular liberală, masculine plural liberali, feminine and neuter plural liberale)

1. liberal

Declension

Related terms

• liberalism
• liberalitate

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

From lȉberālan.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /liběraːl/
• Hyphenation: li‧be‧ral

Noun

libèrāl m (Cyrillic spelling либѐра̄л)

1. liberal

Declension

References

• “liberal” in Hrvatski jezični portal

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin līberālis (“befitting a freeman”), from līber (“free”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /libeˈɾal/

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: li‧be‧ral

Adjective

liberal m or f (masculine and feminine plural liberales)

1. liberal (clarification of this definition is needed)
2. (US politics) liberal
3. (Argentina, Uruguay) libertarian

Derived terms

Related terms

Noun

liberal m or f by sense (plural liberales)

1. liberal
2. (US politics) liberal
3. (Argentina, Uruguay) libertarian

Usage notes

• In Latin America and Spain, the political sense of "liberal" is used to describe supporters of economic freedom, like classical liberals.

Further reading

• “liberal”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014

Swedish

Etymology

From Latin līberālis (“befitting a freeman”), from līber (“free”).

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

liberal (comparative liberalare, superlative liberalast)

1. liberal

Declension

Noun

liberal c

1. a liberal

Declension

Related terms

• liberalisera
• liberalism
• liberalistisk
• liberalitet

References

• liberal in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• liberal in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• liberal in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish liberal.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /libeˈɾal/,
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: li‧be‧ral

Adjective

liberál (Baybayin spelling ᜎᜒᜊᜒᜇᜎ᜔)

1. liberal

Related terms

• liberasyon
• libertad
• liberalismo

Turkish

Etymology

From French libéral.

Adjective

liberal

1. liberal