liberal

liberal

synonyms, antonyms, definitions, examples & translations of liberal in English

English Online Dictionary. What means liberal‎? What does liberal mean?

English

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

  • (Received Pronunciation) enPR: lĭbʹrəl, IPA(key): /ˈlɪbɹəl/
  • (General American) enPR: lĭbʹərəl, IPA(key): /ˈlɪbəɹəl/
  • Rhymes: (Received Pronunciation) -ɪbɹəl

Adjective

liberal (comparative more liberal, superlative most liberal)

  1. (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.
  2. Generous; permitting liberty; willing to give unsparingly.
  3. Ample, abundant; generous in quantity.
  4. (obsolete) Unrestrained, licentious.
  5. Widely open to new ideas, willing to depart from established opinions or conventions; permissive.
  6. (politics) Open to political or social changes and reforms associated with either classical or modern liberalism.
    • 2021, Judith Rainhorn, The Colour of Controversy..., p. 10:
      Endorsing the liberal anti-interventionist credo that the marketplace should act as the "site of verification," the advocates of white lead opposed government intervention for the sake of open economic competition, which they claimed revealed its true value and thus should be the sole determinant: "When the railways were built, the stage coaches disppeared; they died a timely death. If zinc white is truly superior to white lead, it will kill us in the marketplace, but the government should not intervene." These were the words of Expert-Bezançon, in his February 1903 deposition to the parliamentary committee examining the bill for banning lead-based pigments in paint.

Usage notes

  • 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

  • (antonym(s) of “generous; permitting liberty”): authoritarian
  • (antonym(s) of “widely open to new ideas”): conservative

Hyponyms

  • small-l liberal

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Noun

liberal (plural liberals)

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

Coordinate terms

  • moderate, conservative, progressive, libertarian, centrist

Derived terms

  • neo-liberal, neoliberal

Translations

References

  • “liberal”, in 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, →OCLC.
  • “liberal”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Further reading

  • “liberal”, in Collins English Dictionary.
  • “liberal”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
  • “liberal”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  • “liberal”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.

Anagrams

  • Braille, Briella, braille

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin līberālis (“befitting a freeman”), from līber (“free”). First attested in the 14th century.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): (Central) [li.βəˈɾal]
  • IPA(key): (Balearic) [li.bəˈɾal]
  • IPA(key): (Valencia) [li.beˈɾal]
  • Rhymes: -al
  • Hyphenation: li‧be‧ral

Adjective

liberal m or f (masculine and feminine plural liberals)

  1. generous.
  2. tolerant, permissive.
  3. (job) A job with economic autonomy and intellectual activity, as in liberal professionals
  4. liberal, supporter of economic liberalism.

Derived terms

References

Further reading

  • “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

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˌlibəˈʁaːl/, /ˌlɪ-/
  • Rhymes: -aːl

Adjective

liberal (strong nominative masculine singular liberaler, comparative liberaler, superlative am liberalsten)

  1. liberal; permissive; allowing personal freedoms
  2. (politics) libertarian; liberal in the traditional sense (see usage notes below)

Usage notes

  • 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

Derived terms

  • liberalisieren
  • Liberalismus

Further reading

  • “liberal” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
  • “liberal” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon

Indonesian

Etymology

From Dutch liberaal, from Middle French [Term?] (Modern French libéral), from Old French liberal, from Latin līberālis (“befitting a freeman”), from līber (“free”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [libəˈral]
  • Rhymes: -al
  • Hyphenation: li‧bê‧ral

Adjective

libêral

  1. liberal:
    1. widely open to new ideas, willing to depart from established opinions or conventions; permissive.
    2. open to political or social changes and reforms associated with either classical or modern liberalism.

Derived terms

Related terms

Further reading

  • “liberal” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From French libéral, from Latin liberalis.

Adjective

liberal (masculine and feminine liberal, neuter liberalt, definite singular and plural liberale)

  1. liberal

References

  • “liberal” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
  • “liberal” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From French libéral, from Latin līberālis.

Adjective

liberal (neuter liberalt, definite singular and plural liberale)

  1. liberal

References

  • “liberal” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old French

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

Descendants

  • → English: liberal
  • French: libéral

Portuguese

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

  • Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
  • Hyphenation: li‧be‧ral

Adjective

liberal m or f (plural liberais)

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

Derived terms

  • liberalmente
  • liberalóide

Noun

liberal m or f by sense (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.

Romanian

Alternative forms

  • либерал (liberal) — post-1930s Cyrillic spelling

Etymology

Borrowed from French libéral, from Latin liberalis. Equivalent to liber +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /libeˈral/
  • Rhymes: -al
  • Hyphenation: li‧be‧ral

Adjective

liberal m or n (feminine singular liberală, masculine plural liberali, feminine and neuter plural liberale)

  1. liberal

Declension

Related terms

  • liberalism
  • liberalitate

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

From lȉberālan.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

libèrāl m (Cyrillic spelling либѐра̄л)

  1. liberal

Declension

References

  • “liberal”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2024

Spanish

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /libeˈɾal/ [li.β̞eˈɾal]
  • Rhymes: -al
  • Syllabification: li‧be‧ral

Adjective

liberal m or f (masculine and feminine plural liberales)

  1. liberal (clarification of this definition is needed)
  2. (US politics) liberal
  3. (Argentina, Uruguay) libertarian

Derived terms

Related terms

Noun

liberal m or f by sense (plural liberales)

  1. liberal
  2. (US politics) liberal
  3. (Argentina, Uruguay) libertarian

Usage notes

  • In Latin America and Spain, the political sense of "liberal" is used to describe supporters of economic freedom, like classical liberals.

Further reading

  • “liberal”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

Swedish

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

Adjective

liberal (comparative liberalare, superlative liberalast)

  1. liberal

Declension

Noun

liberal c

  1. a liberal

Declension

Related terms

  • liberalisera
  • liberalism
  • liberalistisk
  • liberalitet

References

  • liberal in Svensk ordbok (SO)
  • liberal in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
  • liberal in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish liberal.

Pronunciation

  • (Standard Tagalog) IPA(key): /libeˈɾal/ [lɪ.bɛˈɾal]
  • Rhymes: -al
  • Syllabification: li‧be‧ral

Adjective

liberál (Baybayin spelling ᜎᜒᜊᜒᜇᜎ᜔)

  1. liberal

Derived terms

Related terms

Turkish

Etymology

From French libéral.

Adjective

liberal

  1. liberal

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This article based on an article on Wiktionary. The list of authors can be seen in the page history there. The original work has been modified. This article is distributed under the terms of this license.