Etymologically
Log in

libertad

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Spanish word libertad

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1250 Setenario More words from the 13th century
Borrowed from
Latin libertas via Old Spanish
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European *h₁leudʰ-ero-
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin līber
Spanish libre
French libre
French livre
Italian libero
Italian libro
Spanish libro
Latin lībertās
French liberté
Italian libertà
Spanish libertad
From the same root
Latin libellus ← līber
Latin līberālis ← līber
Latin līberē ← līber
Latin līberī ← līber
Latin līberō ← līber
Latin lībertus ← līber
Latin librārius ← līber

Pronunciation

  • /libeɾˈta/, [li.β̞eɾˈt̪a], /libeɾˈtad/[1]

Forms

libertad f (plural libertades)[1] Old Spanish also wrote libertat;[2][1][3] Alfonso X's Partidas have libredat.[2][1][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Spanish libertat, borrowed from Latin lībertās (“freedom”), a learned word.[4][5][6][1] Corominas lists it under libre and dates it from the Setenario, about 1250.[4]

The same Latin word is Portuguese liberdade, French liberté and Italian libertà, and English liberty is a cognate.[7][1][8]

The Latin noun is formed from līber (“free”) with the suffix -tās; an old spelling was loebertās.[9][1] De Vaan derives the adjective from Proto-Italic *leuþero- and Proto-Indo-European *h₁leudʰ-ero-, and compares Ancient Greek ἐλεύθερος (eleútheros, “free”) and Old High German liut (“people”).[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas dates the first record to the Setenario (c. 1250), and the word is in Juan Ruiz.[4][5] Herman el Alemán's psalter (c. 1240–1272) has afirmeste míos piedes en libertad, “you set my feet in freedom”.[11] The Libro de los buenos proverbios (c. 1250, in a late 13th-century copy) asks: ¿Qual pena puede ser peor que non vevir onbre en su libertad nin en su poder?, “what punishment can be worse than for a man not to live in his freedom and his own power?”[11]

Semantic evolution

From the start the plural libertades also meant “privileges, franchises”, often beside franquezas, as in Alfonso X's Fuero Real (1251–1255).[11][3] The Estoria de España praises freedom as one of the best things in the world, which no wealth can buy.[3]

Covarrubias (1611) opposed it to servitude and captivity and quoted the jurist Florentinus's Latin definition.[12] Autoridades (1734) gave free will, the state of one subject to no one, exemption or privilege, and the licence of those who abuse true freedom.[13] The Academy's edition of 1817 added the freedom enjoyed in well-governed nations to do and say whatever is not against the laws and good customs, and that of 1884 defined free will as the faculty of acting one way or another, or not acting, for which one is responsible.[14][15] The DLE now adds, for democratic systems, a right of higher rank that secures people's self-determination.[6]

In the Dominican Republic libertad is also the name of a tree, the marango (Moringa oleifera).[16][17]

Timeline

  • 1208 – the CDH's earliest hit, the plural libertades “privileges” in a Castilian text of the Cortes of León.[11]
  • c. 1240–1272 – Herman el Alemán's psalter.[11]
  • c. 1250 – the Setenario.[4][5]
  • 1251–1255 – the Fuero Real pairs franquezas and libertades.[11]
  • 1270–1284 – the Estoria de España.[3]
  • c. 1440 – the related liberto and libertar.[5]
  • c. 1495 – Nebrija gives Latin libertas and vindicta.[18]
  • 1536 – first record in the Americas, in Mexico City.[19]
  • 1611 – Covarrubias quotes Florentinus's definition.[12]
  • 1734 – Autoridades gives free will as the first sense.[13]
  • 1884 – the Academy's definition of free will with responsibility.[15]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Free will: the natural faculty of acting one way or another, or not acting, which makes one responsible for one's acts.[6][1]
  2. freedom, liberty: the condition of one who is not a slave or not in prison: Salió en libertad después de cinco años.[6][1]
  3. Lack of subjection or restraint.[6]
  4. In democratic systems, a fundamental right that secures people's self-determination, as in libertad de expresión.[6]
  5. (mostly in the plural) A prerogative, privilege.[6][13]
  6. (pejorative, in the plural) Licence, undue familiarity, as in tomarse la libertad de.[6]
  7. Ease, frankness, freedom from etiquette; skill and facility in doing something.[6][1]
  8. (Dominican Republic) The tree Moringa oleifera.[16][17]

Word family

  • libertario
  • liberticida

Usage notes

Set phrases include libertad condicional “parole” and libertad de cátedra “academic freedom”.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. libertad
  3. ^ a b c d e Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. libertad
  4. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 3, 642
  5. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. libre
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. libertad
  7. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. liberdade
  8. ^ Terreros y Pando, Esteban de (1786–1793), Diccionario castellano con las voces de ciencias y artes y sus correspondientes de las tres lenguas francesa, latina e italiana, 4 vols., Madrid: Viuda de Ibarra, p. 2, 448
  9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  11. ^ a b c d e f Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. libertad
  12. ^ a b Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 1084
  13. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 4, 396
  14. ^ Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 527
  15. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 642
  16. ^ a b Academia Dominicana de la Lengua; Instituto Guzmán Ariza de Lexicografía (2024), Diccionario del español dominicano, 2nd ed., online at https://ded.igalex.org, p. s.v. libertad
  17. ^ a b Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. libertad
  18. ^ Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 371
  19. ^ Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. libertad

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Libertad.” Etymologically, 7 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/es/libertad. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·