Etymologically
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libérer

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 18 October 2026 at 11:06. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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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