liberto

Forms

lībertō (present infinitive lībertāre, perfect active lībertāvī, supine lībertātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin lībertus (“freedman”), according to the TLL;^[2] Wiktionary traces it ultimately to lībertās (“liberty, freedom”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is a late word of the law codes and church councils: the TLL's earliest records are a council of the Spanish church, the Burgundian laws and the Visigothic laws, all meaning to make someone a freedman, to free a slave.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The Burgundian law forbids freeing, selling or giving them away before the age of fifteen.^[2] In Medieval Latin it meant more generally to free, and especially to exempt people or property from burdens and duties such as taxes, homage or a jurisdiction;^[3][4][5] in Polish sources it is also to acquit someone in court, to release a guarantor, and to redeem a pledge.^[5]

It survived in Romanian ierta and Aromanian ljertu, and was borrowed into Italian libertare, Catalan llibertar and Portuguese libertar.^[1]

Timeline

• first quarter of the 6th century AD – The Burgundian law code uses it for freeing slaves.^[2][6]
• 1240 – A Masovian charter uses it for freeing villagers from a levy.^[5]
• 1399 – A Hungarian charter uses it for exempting townspeople from taxes.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To make (a slave) a freedman, to manumit.^[2][3]
2. (Medieval Latin) To set free, to liberate.^[3][5][1]
3. (Medieval Latin) To exempt (people or property) from taxes, services or other burdens.^[4][3][5]
4. (Medieval Latin) To acquit in court; to release (a guarantor); to redeem (a pledge).^[5]

Related words

• lībertus
• lībertās

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c d Latinitatis medii aevi lexicon Bohemorum / Slovník středověké latiny v českých zemích (1977–), Prague: Academia; electronic version, Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences
4. ^ a b c Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE
5. ^ a b c d e f Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
6. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de