liberal English · revision 4008

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1375|origins=la līber}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈlɪb.ər.əl/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|liberal]],^(MWU 2024) [[bor|fro|liberal|t=befitting free people; noble, generous]] and directly [[der|la|līberālis|t=of freedom, befitting a free person; noble, generous]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[m|la|līber|t=free]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) which is conjectured to come from [[ine-pro|*h₁lewdʰ-|alt=*leudh-|t=people]], probably originally “belonging to the people”.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) It is cognate with Greek eleútheros “free” and German Leute “people”.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) It is related to [[liberty]], [[liberate]] and [[deliver]].^(Hoad 1986)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ As the epithet of the arts “worthy of a free man”, about 1375 in the OED;^(OED 1989) “generous”, and also “nobly born, free”, the mid-14th century in Etymonline^(Etymonline) and before 1350 in Barnhart.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Its original sense, suitable for a free man or gentleman not tied to a trade, survives in ''liberal arts'', the seven arts of the trivium and quadrivium.^(NODE 1998)^(Barnhart 1988) It meant “selfless, magnanimous” from the late 14th century,^(Etymonline) and in the early 15th century it could also mean “extravagant, unrestrained”.^(Etymonline) In the 16th and 17th centuries it was a term of reproach, “free from restraint in speech or action”,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) as when Shakespeare calls Iago “a most profane and liberal counsellor”.^(Trench 1859) The Enlightenment revived it in the positive sense “free from prejudice, tolerant” (1776–88).^(Etymonline) In the 19th century it was often theological, opposed to orthodox.^(Etymonline) In politics it is from the 19th century,^(Hoad 1986) and the noun, a member of the British Liberal party, is from 1820,^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) and of anyone of liberal principles by 1832.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1375 – of the liberal arts.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1387 – generous.^(OED 1989)

+ * early 15th century – unrestrained.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1776–88 – free from prejudice.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1820 – a member of the Liberal party.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1832 – a person of liberal principles.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Not bound by traditional or authoritarian views; [[tolerant]] and open to new ideas.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Favouring political reform, individual liberty and civil rights.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Generous in giving; ample: ''a liberal helping''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Not strict or literal: ''a liberal interpretation''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Of education, concerned with general knowledge rather than vocational training: ''the liberal arts''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person with liberal views.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''Liberal'', a member of a Liberal political party.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[liberally]]

+ * [[liberalness]]

+ * [[neoliberal]]

+ * [[pseudoliberal]]

+ * [[archliberal]]

+ * [[liberality]]

+ * [[liberalize]]

+ * [[nonliberal]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[liberalism]]

+ * [[liberate]]

+ * [[liberation]]

+ * [[libertarian]]

+ * [[liberty]]

+ * [[deliver]]

+ * [[libertine]]

+ * [[livery]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The American Heritage sets liberal, “giving unstintingly”, beside bounteous, bountiful, generous, handsome and munificent.^(AHD) Ambrose Bierce defined a conservative as “a statesman who is enamored of existing evils, as distinguished from the Liberal, who wishes to replace them with others”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}