libertine
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English
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈlɪb.ə.tiːn/
Audio (Southern England) (file)
- (US) IPA(key): /ˈlɪb.ɚ.tin/
Audio (US) (file)
Etymology 1
From Latin libertinus (“a freedman, prop. adj., of or belonging to the condition of a freedman”), from libertus (“a freedman”), from liber (“free”); see liberal, liberate.
Noun
libertine (plural libertines)
- (historical) Someone freed from slavery in Ancient Rome; a freedman.
Etymology 2
Noun
libertine (plural libertines)
- One who is freethinking in religious matters.
- Someone (especially a man) who takes no notice of moral laws, especially those involving sexual propriety; someone loose in morals; a pleasure-seeker.
- 2007, Choderlos de Laclos, translated by Helen Constantine, Dangerous Liaisons, Penguin, page 123:
- So the truth of the matter is that a libertine in love, if indeed a libertine can be in love, becomes from that moment in less of a hurry to enjoy the pleasures of the flesh.
Synonyms
- See also Thesaurus:libertine
Related terms
Translations
one who is freethinking in religious matters
|
someone loose in morals
Adjective
libertine (comparative more libertine, superlative most libertine)
- Dissolute, licentious, profligate; loose in morals.
Related terms
Translations
loose in morals
Further reading
- “libertine”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “libertine”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
Anagrams
French
Pronunciation
Audio (file)
Adjective
libertine
Italian
Noun
libertine f
Latin
Adjective
lībertīne