liberal
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
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[edit]
- (Received Pronunciation) enPR: lĭbʹrəl, IPA(key): /ˈlɪbɹəl/
- (General American) enPR: lĭbʹərəl, IPA(key): /ˈlɪbəɹəl/
Audio (US) (file)
Adjective[edit]
liberal (comparative more liberal, superlative most liberal)
- (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.
- 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
- He had a full education studying the liberal arts.
- Generous; willing to give unsparingly.
- 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.
- He was liberal with his compliments.
- Ample, abundant; generous in quantity.
- 1896, in 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.
- Add a liberal sprinkling of salt.
- 1896, in Ice and refrigeration, volume 11, page 93:
- (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[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act IV, scene i]:
- 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.
- Widely open to new ideas, willing to depart from established opinions or conventions; permissive.
- Her parents had liberal ideas about child-rearing.
- (politics) Open to political or social changes and reforms associated with either classical or modern liberalism.
Usage notes[edit]
- 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[edit]
Hyponyms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
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Noun[edit]
liberal (plural liberals)
- One with liberal views, supporting individual liberty (see Wikipedia's article on Liberalism).
- (US) Someone with progressive or left-wing views; one with a left-wing ideology.
- A supporter of any of several liberal parties.
- (UK) One who favors individual voting rights, human and civil rights, and laissez-faire markets (also called "classical liberal"; compare libertarian).
Derived terms[edit]
Coordinate terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
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Further reading[edit]
- “liberal” in the Collins English Dictionary
- “liberal”, in Merriam–Webster Online Dictionary.
- “liberal”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–present.
- “liberal” in the Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
References[edit]
- liberal at 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.
- “liberal” in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
Anagrams[edit]
Catalan[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Latin līberālis (“befitting a freeman”), from līber (“free”), attested from the 14th century.[1]
Pronunciation[edit]
Adjective[edit]
liberal (masculine and feminine plural liberals)
- liberal (clarification of this definition is needed)
Derived terms[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ “liberal” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
Further reading[edit]
- “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[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Latin līberālis (“befitting a freeman”), from līber (“free”).
Pronunciation[edit]
Adjective[edit]
liberal (comparative liberaler, superlative am liberalsten)
- 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.
- (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[edit]
- 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[edit]
number & gender | singular | plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
masculine | feminine | neuter | all genders | ||
predicative | er ist liberal | sie ist liberal | es ist liberal | sie sind liberal | |
strong declension (without article) |
nominative | liberaler | liberale | liberales | liberale |
genitive | liberalen | liberaler | liberalen | liberaler | |
dative | liberalem | liberaler | liberalem | liberalen | |
accusative | liberalen | liberale | liberales | liberale | |
weak declension (with definite article) |
nominative | der liberale | die liberale | das liberale | die liberalen |
genitive | des liberalen | der liberalen | des liberalen | der liberalen | |
dative | dem liberalen | der liberalen | dem liberalen | den liberalen | |
accusative | den liberalen | die liberale | das liberale | die liberalen | |
mixed declension (with indefinite article) |
nominative | ein liberaler | eine liberale | ein liberales | (keine) liberalen |
genitive | eines liberalen | einer liberalen | eines liberalen | (keiner) liberalen | |
dative | einem liberalen | einer liberalen | einem liberalen | (keinen) liberalen | |
accusative | einen liberalen | eine liberale | ein liberales | (keine) liberalen |
number & gender | singular | plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
masculine | feminine | neuter | all genders | ||
predicative | er ist liberaler | sie ist liberaler | es ist liberaler | sie sind liberaler | |
strong declension (without article) |
nominative | liberalerer | liberalere | liberaleres | liberalere |
genitive | liberaleren | liberalerer | liberaleren | liberalerer | |
dative | liberalerem | liberalerer | liberalerem | liberaleren | |
accusative | liberaleren | liberalere | liberaleres | liberalere | |
weak declension (with definite article) |
nominative | der liberalere | die liberalere | das liberalere | die liberaleren |
genitive | des liberaleren | der liberaleren | des liberaleren | der liberaleren | |
dative | dem liberaleren | der liberaleren | dem liberaleren | den liberaleren | |
accusative | den liberaleren | die liberalere | das liberalere | die liberaleren | |
mixed declension (with indefinite article) |
nominative | ein liberalerer | eine liberalere | ein liberaleres | (keine) liberaleren |
genitive | eines liberaleren | einer liberaleren | eines liberaleren | (keiner) liberaleren | |
dative | einem liberaleren | einer liberaleren | einem liberaleren | (keinen) liberaleren | |
accusative | einen liberaleren | eine liberalere | ein liberaleres | (keine) liberaleren |
number & gender | singular | plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
masculine | feminine | neuter | all genders | ||
predicative | er ist am liberalsten | sie ist am liberalsten | es ist am liberalsten | sie sind am liberalsten | |
strong declension (without article) |
nominative | liberalster | liberalste | liberalstes | liberalste |
genitive | liberalsten | liberalster | liberalsten | liberalster | |
dative | liberalstem | liberalster | liberalstem | liberalsten | |
accusative | liberalsten | liberalste | liberalstes | liberalste | |
weak declension (with definite article) |
nominative | der liberalste | die liberalste | das liberalste | die liberalsten |
genitive | des liberalsten | der liberalsten | des liberalsten | der liberalsten | |
dative | dem liberalsten | der liberalsten | dem liberalsten | den liberalsten | |
accusative | den liberalsten | die liberalste | das liberalste | die liberalsten | |
mixed declension (with indefinite article) |
nominative | ein liberalster | eine liberalste | ein liberalstes | (keine) liberalsten |
genitive | eines liberalsten | einer liberalsten | eines liberalsten | (keiner) liberalsten | |
dative | einem liberalsten | einer liberalsten | einem liberalsten | (keinen) liberalsten | |
accusative | einen liberalsten | eine liberalste | ein liberalstes | (keine) liberalsten |
Derived terms[edit]
Further reading[edit]
- “liberal” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
- “liberal” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
Indonesian[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Dutch liberaal, from Middle French [Term?] (Modern French libéral), from Old French liberal, from Latin līberālis (“befitting a freeman”), from līber (“free”).
Pronunciation[edit]
Adjective[edit]
liberal
- liberal:
- widely open to new ideas, willing to depart from established opinions or conventions; permissive.
- open to political or social changes and reforms associated with either classical or modern liberalism.
Derived terms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
Further reading[edit]
- “liberal” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia (KBBI) Daring, Jakarta: Badan Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa, Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Republik Indonesia, 2016.
Norwegian Bokmål[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From French libéral, from Latin liberalis
Adjective[edit]
liberal (masculine and feminine liberal, neuter liberalt, definite singular and plural liberale)
References[edit]
Norwegian Nynorsk[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From French libéral, from Latin līberālis.
Adjective[edit]
liberal (masculine and feminine liberal, neuter liberalt, definite singular and plural liberale)
References[edit]
- “liberal” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Old French[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Latin līberālis (“befitting a freeman”), from līber (“free”).
Adjective[edit]
liberal m (oblique and nominative feminine singular liberale)
Descendants[edit]
Portuguese[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Latin līberālis (“befitting a freeman”), from līber (“free”).
Pronunciation[edit]
Adjective[edit]
liberal m or f (plural liberais, comparable)
Derived terms[edit]
Noun[edit]
liberal m, f (plural liberais)
Usage notes[edit]
In Brazil, the political sense of "liberal" is used to describe supporters of economic freedom, like classical liberals.
Romanian[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From French libéral, from Latin liberalis.
Adjective[edit]
liberal m or n (feminine singular liberală, masculine plural liberali, feminine and neuter plural liberale)
Declension[edit]
singular | plural | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
masculine | neuter | feminine | masculine | neuter | feminine | ||
nominative/ accusative |
indefinite | liberal | liberală | liberali | liberale | ||
definite | liberalul | liberala | liberalii | liberalele | |||
genitive/ dative |
indefinite | liberal | liberale | liberali | liberale | ||
definite | liberalului | liberalei | liberalilor | liberalelor |
Related terms[edit]
Serbo-Croatian[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From lȉberālan.
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
libèrāl m (Cyrillic spelling либѐра̄л)
Declension[edit]
singular | plural | |
---|---|---|
nominative | libèrāl | liberali |
genitive | liberála | liberala |
dative | liberalu | liberalima |
accusative | liberala | liberale |
vocative | liberale | liberali |
locative | liberalu | liberalima |
instrumental | liberalom | liberalima |
References[edit]
- “liberal” in Hrvatski jezični portal
Spanish[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Latin līberālis (“befitting a freeman”), from līber (“free”).
Pronunciation[edit]
Adjective[edit]
liberal (plural liberales)
Derived terms[edit]
Noun[edit]
liberal m or f (plural liberales)
Usage notes[edit]
In Latin America and Spain, the political sense of "liberal" is used to describe supporters of economic freedom, like classical liberals.
Further reading[edit]
- “liberal” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.
Swedish[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Latin līberālis (“befitting a freeman”), from līber (“free”).
Pronunciation[edit]
Audio (file)
Adjective[edit]
liberal (comparative liberalare, superlative liberalast)
Declension[edit]
Inflection of liberal | |||
---|---|---|---|
Indefinite | Positive | Comparative | Superlative2 |
Common singular | liberal | liberalare | liberalast |
Neuter singular | liberalt | liberalare | liberalast |
Plural | liberala | liberalare | liberalast |
Masculine plural3 | liberale | liberalare | liberalast |
Definite | Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
Masculine singular1 | liberale | liberalare | liberalaste |
All | liberala | liberalare | liberalaste |
1) Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine. 2) The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative. 3) Dated or archaic |
Noun[edit]
liberal c
- a liberal
Declension[edit]
Declension of liberal | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||
Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
Nominative | liberal | liberalen | liberaler | liberalerna |
Genitive | liberals | liberalens | liberalers | liberalernas |
Tagalog[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Borrowed from Spanish liberal.
Pronunciation[edit]
Adjective[edit]
liberál
Related terms[edit]
Turkish[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Adjective[edit]
liberal
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₁lewdʰ-
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with audio links
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- English terms with rare senses
- English terms with quotations
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with obsolete senses
- en:Politics
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- American English
- British English
- Northern Irish English
- en:Liberalism
- Catalan terms derived from Latin
- Catalan 3-syllable words
- Catalan terms with IPA pronunciation
- Catalan lemmas
- Catalan adjectives
- Catalan epicene adjectives
- German terms derived from Latin
- German 3-syllable words
- German terms with IPA pronunciation
- German terms with audio links
- Rhymes:German/aːl
- Rhymes:German/aːl/3 syllables
- German lemmas
- German adjectives
- German terms with usage examples
- de:Politics
- Indonesian terms borrowed from Dutch
- Indonesian terms derived from Dutch
- Indonesian terms derived from Middle French
- Indonesian terms derived from Old French
- Indonesian terms derived from Latin
- Indonesian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Indonesian lemmas
- Indonesian adjectives
- Norwegian Bokmål terms derived from French
- Norwegian Bokmål terms derived from Latin
- Norwegian Bokmål lemmas
- Norwegian Bokmål adjectives
- Norwegian Nynorsk terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Norwegian Nynorsk terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₁lewdʰ-
- Norwegian Nynorsk terms borrowed from French
- Norwegian Nynorsk terms derived from French
- Norwegian Nynorsk terms derived from Latin
- Norwegian Nynorsk lemmas
- Norwegian Nynorsk adjectives
- Old French terms derived from Latin
- Old French lemmas
- Old French adjectives
- Portuguese terms derived from Latin
- Portuguese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Portuguese 3-syllable words
- Rhymes:Portuguese/al
- Rhymes:Portuguese/al/3 syllables
- Rhymes:Portuguese/aw
- Rhymes:Portuguese/aw/3 syllables
- Portuguese lemmas
- Portuguese adjectives
- pt:Politics
- Portuguese nouns
- Romanian terms borrowed from French
- Romanian terms derived from French
- Romanian terms derived from Latin
- Romanian lemmas
- Romanian adjectives
- Serbo-Croatian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Serbo-Croatian lemmas
- Serbo-Croatian nouns
- Serbo-Croatian masculine nouns
- Spanish terms derived from Latin
- Spanish 3-syllable words
- Spanish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Spanish terms with audio links
- Spanish lemmas
- Spanish adjectives
- es:US politics
- Argentinian Spanish
- Uruguayan Spanish
- Spanish nouns
- Spanish countable nouns
- Spanish masculine nouns
- Spanish feminine nouns
- Spanish nouns with multiple genders
- Swedish terms derived from Latin
- Swedish terms with audio links
- Swedish lemmas
- Swedish adjectives
- Swedish nouns
- Swedish common-gender nouns
- Tagalog terms borrowed from Spanish
- Tagalog terms derived from Spanish
- Tagalog terms with IPA pronunciation
- Tagalog lemmas
- Tagalog adjectives
- Turkish terms borrowed from French
- Turkish terms derived from French
- Turkish lemmas
- Turkish adjectives