liberal

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

• (UK) enPR: lĭ'brəl, IPA^(key): /ˈlɪbɹəl/
• (US) enPR: lĭ'bərəl, IPA^(key): /ˈlɪbəɹəl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

liberal (comparative more liberal, superlative most liberal)

1. (now rare outside set phrases) Pertaining to those arts and sciences the study of which are considered suitable for free people (as opposed to servile, vocational, mechanical training); worthy, lofty.
   • 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.

2. Generous; willing to give unsparingly.
   • 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.

3. 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.

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.

   Younger people tend to be more liberal than older people.

Noun

liberal (plural liberals)

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

Further reading

• liberal in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• liberal in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• "liberal" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 179.

Anagrams

• Braille, Briella, braille

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /li.bəˈɾal/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /li.beˈɾal/
• Hyphenation: li‧be‧ral

Adjective

liberal (masculine and feminine plural liberals)

1. liberal (clarification of this definition is needed)

Further reading

• “liberal” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌlibəˈʁaːl/, /ˌlɪ-/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aːl

Adjective

liberal (comparative liberaler, superlative am liberalsten)

1. liberal; permissive; allowing personal freedoms

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

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

2. (politics) liberal; libertarian (see usage notes below)

   Die FDP ist die wichtigste liberale Partei in Deutschland.

   The FDP is Germany’s most important liberal party.

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

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /li.βɨ.ˈɾaɫ/
• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /li.be.ˈɾaw/
• Hyphenation: li‧be‧ral

Adjective

liberal m, f (plural liberais, comparable)

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

Noun

liberal m, f (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.

Etymology

From lȉberālan.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

libèrāl m (Cyrillic spelling либѐра̄л)

1. liberal

References

• “liberal” in Hrvatski jezični portal

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: li‧be‧ral

Adjective

liberal (plural liberales)

1. liberal
2. (politics, US) liberal

Noun

liberal m, f (plural liberales)

1. liberal
2. (politics, US) liberal

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

liberal (comparative liberalare, superlative liberalast)

1. liberal

Noun

liberal c

1. a liberal