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libérer

Etymology and origin of the French word libérer

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1495 (liberez de)
Borrowed from
Latin libero
Ultimate origin
Latin (līber)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin libero
French libérer

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /li.be.ʁe/[1]

Forms

libérer[1] The Académie has written it with é since 1694; the stem vowel becomes è before a mute syllable: je libère, je libérerai.[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin līberō (“to set free; to free (a slave); to release from a debt or obligation”),[2][4][5][6][7][1] from līber (“free”) (see libre).[2][4] The verb inherited from the same Latin word is livrer, its doublet.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Jean de Vignay's Miroir historial, in a print of 1495, has the past participle liberez de “exempt from, freed from”.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

As a transitive verb it first meant “to set (a prisoner) free” (1541).[2][4][8] It was then extended to freeing someone from what hinders (Lavardin, 1585) and, figuratively, to discharging a debt or servitude (Furetière, 1690).[2][4] Landais (1834) has it for sending a soldier home at the end of his service, whence “to release someone once his duties are over”.[2][4] Rey dates “to free a country from foreign rule” to de Gaulle (1942), together with the new sense then taken by libération.[4][2] The Stock Exchange uses it for paying up shares (1867).[9]

libérateur (1500) replaced the older délivreur.[4][5]

Timeline

  • c. 1398 – libération (liberacion).[4]
  • 1495 – Liberez de “exempt from”.[2]
  • 1500 – libérateur.[4]
  • 1541 – “To set (a prisoner) free”.[2]
  • 1585 – “To free from a hindrance”, Lavardin.[2]
  • 1690 – “To discharge (from a debt)”, Furetière.[2]
  • 1834 – “To discharge (a soldier)”, Landais.[2]
  • 1942 – “To liberate (a country)”, de Gaulle.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To release, set free (a prisoner, a hostage).[8][1]
  2. To free from what binds or hinders: libérer le passage; to free (prices, trade).[8]
  3. To liberate (a country, a people) from occupation or domination.[2][4]
  4. To release (someone) from an obligation or debt; to discharge (a soldier).[2][4]
  5. To vacate (premises): libérer une chambre.[1]
  6. To give off, release (energy, a gas).[10]
  7. Se libérer: to free oneself; to make oneself available.[8]

Word family

  • libérable
  • libératoire
  • libération
  • liberté
  • libre
  • libérateur
  • livrer

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p 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. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 5, 303a
  8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  10. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Libérer.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/lib%C3%A9rer. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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