liberalization

Etymology

It is formed from English liberalize + -ation.^[2][3] Liberalize is from liberal and -ize, recorded from 1765,^[2][4] and the adjective is from Old French liberal and directly from Latin līberālis, from līber (“free”).^[5][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The action or process of making or becoming more liberal: 1794, in J. Stewart's Good Sense.^[2][3][6] The OED's revised entry (2010) gives this date; the 1989 edition of the OED had 1835.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

The economic sense, the removal or easing of restrictions on trade or other economic activity, is recorded from 1824,^[2] a year after the matching sense of the verb liberalize (1823).^[2] The 1989 edition of the OED mentioned the removal of restrictions by a government as a special use of the general sense.^[7]

Timeline

• 1794 – the action of making or becoming more liberal.^[2][3][6]
• 1824 – in economics, the removal or reduction of restrictions on trade or other activity.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act or process of making something more liberal or less strict, or the state of having been made so: the liberalization of divorce laws.^[6][2]
2. (economics) The removal or easing of government restrictions on trade, prices or other economic activity.^[2][1]

Related words

• liberalize
• liberal
• liberty
• deregulation

Usage notes

The British spelling liberalisation is also used.^[6][8]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
6. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins