libertine

English

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈlɪb.ə.tiːn/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈlɪb.ɚ.tin/

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)

  1. (historical) Someone freed from slavery in Ancient Rome; a freedman.

Etymology 2

From French libertin

Noun

libertine (plural libertines)

  1. One who is freethinking in religious matters.
  2. 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, Dangerous Liaisons, tr. Helen Constantine, Penguin 2007, p. 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

Translations

Adjective

libertine (comparative more libertine, superlative most libertine)

  1. Dissolute, licentious, profligate; loose in morals.

Translations

Further reading

  • libertine in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
  • libertine in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

Anagrams

French

Adjective

libertine

  1. feminine singular of libertin

Latin

Adjective

lībertīne

  1. vocative masculine singular of lībertīnus
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