libertine

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈlɪb.ə.tiːn/ (UK); /ˈlɪb.ɚ.tin/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English libertyn (“freedman”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} borrowed from Latin lībertīnus (“freedman; of a freedman”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from lībertus “freedman”,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from līber “free”.^[2][3][4][5] The sense “freethinker” comes from French libertin, originally the name of certain pantheistic Protestant sects.^[4][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Roman antiquity, a freedman, one freed from slavery (1382 in the OED; about 1384 in Barnhart).^[7][3][4]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th century the word named antinomian sects in France and elsewhere, and then anyone holding free or loose opinions about religion, a freethinker (1563–83),^[7][3][4] a sense influenced by liberty and liberal.^[3][4] The sense of a man who is not restrained by morality, a dissolute or licentious person, appeared in 1593,^[7][3][4] perhaps helped by a misunderstanding of the word in Acts 6:9.^[4] The adjective followed the same path, from “freethinking” (1577) to “dissolute” (1605).^[3]

Timeline

• 1382 – a Roman freedman.^[7][3]
• 1563–83 – a freethinker.^[7][3][4]
• 1577 – adjective, freethinking.^[3][5]
• 1593 – a dissolute person.^[7][3][4]
• 1605 – adjective, dissolute.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A person, especially a man, who acts without moral restraint, especially in sexual matters; a rake or profligate.
2. A freethinker, especially in religious matters.
3. (history) A freed slave in ancient Rome.

Adjective

1. Morally unrestrained; dissolute or licentious.

Related words

• liberate
• liberal
• liberty
• libertinism
• libertinage
• rake
• roué

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press