liberation

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˌlɪb.əˈreɪ.ʃən/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English liberacion, borrowed from Old French libération and directly Latin līberātiō (“a setting or becoming free”),^[2][3] from the past participle stem of līberō (“to set free”), from līber (“free”) (see liberal).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The act of setting free from restraint or confinement: about 1440 in the OED, the early 15th century in Etymonline.^[4][2]

Semantic evolution

In late 19th-century Britain, liberationism and liberationist referred to the movement to disestablish the Church, after the Liberation Society.^[2] The struggle for equal rights for a group, as in women's liberation, is a 20th-century use.^[5][6] Liberation theology (1969) translates Spanish teología de la liberación, coined in 1968 by the Peruvian priest Gustavo Gutiérrez.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1440 – setting free.^[4]
• late 19th century – liberationism.^[2]
• 1969 – liberation theology.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The act of setting free, or the state of being set free.
2. The struggle for equal status or fair treatment for a group: women's liberation.

Word family

• liberationist
• nonliberation
• postliberation
• preliberation
• gay liberation
• liberation theology
• women's liberation

Related words

• liberate
• liberty
• liberal

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin