libération

Forms

libération f (plural libérations)^[1] Middle French liberacion.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin līberātiō (“deliverance, acquittal, discharge of a debt”),^[2][4][1] formed on the supine of līberō (“to free”).^[2][4][3] The TLFi also notes a separate Middle French liberacion (“liberality”) in 1372.^[2]

Cognate with Old Occitan liberacio, Spanish liberación and Italian liberazione.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded about 1398, as liberacion, in the Somme Me Gautier, for being delivered from an illness.^[2][4] A 14th-century translation of Bernard of Gordon likewise calls the passing of the matter of pneumonia through the urine a signe de liberation.^[5]

Semantic evolution

In the 15th century it came to mean the freeing of prisoners: Monstrelet praised an emperor for the liberation de plusieurs prisonniers.^[5][4] From the mid-15th century it was also the release of a convict who had served his sentence, and the libération conditionnelle is named in a law of 1845.^[4][6] Cotgrave recorded in 1611 the sense of a discharge from a debt or obligation,^[4][6] and in the 19th century it also meant discharge from military service.^[6][5]

In time the noun took over all the senses of libérer.^[7] It was used of freeing a country or a people (1870).^[6] From 1942 la Libération became the historical name for the liberation of France, achieved in 1944.^[7][4] After the Second World War it spread to freedom from any constraint, as in libération sexuelle, and to physics, chemistry and finance: the release of energy, vitesse de libération and the paying up of shares.^[6][4]

Timeline

• c. 1398 – Liberacion appears in the Somme Me Gautier.^[2]
• Before 1453 – Monstrelet uses it for the freeing of prisoners.^[4][5]
• 1611 – Cotgrave records the sense “discharge of a debt”.^[4][6]
• 1845 – Libération conditionnelle appears in the Bulletin des lois.^[4]
• 1870 – It is used of the liberation of a country.^[6]
• 1942 – La Libération is used for the liberation of France.^[7]
• 1959 – The Robert records the senses in physics and finance.^[4][8]
• 1962 – Larousse records libération des échanges.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The freeing of a captive or prisoner; release of a convict after his sentence: libération conditionnelle, parole.^[6][4][2]
2. Discharge from military service.^[6][4][5]
3. The freeing of an occupied country or an oppressed people;^[6][4][7] la Libération, the liberation of France in 1944.^[6][4][7]
4. Freedom from a constraint or tie, emancipation: libération sexuelle.^[6][4]
5. (law, finance) Discharge from a debt or obligation; the paying up of a share;^[6][4][5] libération des échanges, the lifting of import restrictions.^[6][4][5]
6. (physics, physiology) The release of energy, particles or a substance: vitesse de libération, escape velocity.^[6][4][1]

Related words

• libérer
• libérateur
• livraison
• livrer
• délivrer
• Latin līberātiō
• English liberation

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF