liberal

See also Liberal

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

Adjective

liberal (comparative more liberal, superlative most liberal)

  1. (now rare outside of set phrases) Pertaining to those arts and sciences the study of which is considered "worthy of a free man" (as opposed to servile, mechanical); worthy, befitting a gentleman.
    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 0275949990), 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 0742561224)
  2. Generous, willing to give unsparingly;.
    He was liberal with his compliments.
    • 2005, John Gardner, Assessment and Learning (ISBN 141291051X), 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 0595432719), 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 1854249738), page 142:
      Was it because the believers were so liberal with their possessions that God was so liberal with his grace?
  3. Ample, abundant; generous in quantity.
    Add a liberal sprinkling of salt.
    • 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 1438960344), 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 0547345933), 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.
    • 1599, William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing, Act 4 Scene 1
      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.

Antonyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

pertaining to the arts the study of which is considered worthy of a free man
generous, willing to give unsparingly
ample, abundant, generous in quantity
unrestrained, licentious
widely open to new ideas, willing to depart from established opinions, conventions etc
Translations to be checked

These glosses don't correspond to senses:

political description, following liberalism
open-minded, favoring social freedom; permissive
politically liberal
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 Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

Noun

liberal (plural liberals)

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

Coordinate terms

Translations

one with liberal views, supporting individual liberty
someone left-wing — See also translations at : progressive,‎ left-winger
supporter of a liberal party — See also translations at : progressive
one who favors individual voting rights, human and civil rights, individual gun rights and laissez-faire markets

External links

Anagrams

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Old French

Adjective

liberal m

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

Descendants

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Portuguese

Adjective

liberal m and f (plural liberais; comparable)

  1. liberal, generous, tolerant
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Spanish

Adjective

liberal m and f (plural liberales)

  1. liberal
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Swedish

Pronunciation

Adjective

liberal

  1. liberal

Declension

Declension of liberal
Inflections of
liberal		 Absolute Comparative Superlative
Attributive Predicative
Indefinite
singular		 Common liberal liberalare liberalast
Neuter liberalt
Definite
singular		 Masc. liberale liberalaste
All liberala liberalaste
Plural liberala liberalaste

Noun

liberal c

  1. a liberal

Declension

Declension of liberal
singular plural
Common indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative liberal liberalen liberaler liberalerna
genitive liberals liberalens liberalers liberalernas
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Last modified on 19 May 2013, at 21:48