libero Latin · revision 8077
16 Oct 2026, 15:23 by bogdan “New Latin entry (sources: de Vaan, OLD, Lewis & Short, TLL...)” current version
Initial text
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Plautus|origins=la līber}}
+
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈliː.bɛ.roː]^(Wiktionary)
+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈliː.be.ro]^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Forms==
+ '''līberō''' (present infinitive līberāre, perfect active līberāvī, supine līberātum); first conjugation^(Wiktionary)
+ An inscription has the passive infinitive ''leiberarei'', and Plautus has ''līberāssō'' for ''līberāverō''.^(OLD 2012)
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is from [[līber]] “free”.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ The OLD's earliest citations are from Plautus, of freeing a slave and of delivering someone from a situation.^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ It meant to free a slave, as in Plautus, and in Cicero to make a city or people politically free.^(OLD 2012) In Cicero it meant to release from restraint, to draw a sword, and in law to acquit; from Plautus to deliver from a condition.^(OLD 2012) In Cicero it also meant to free someone's mind, to release from an obligation, and to discharge a debt.^(OLD 2012) In Ulpian it meant to free from a pledge or mortgage, and in Petronius to get clear of, cross.^(OLD 2012)
+
+ In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to liberate, free, acquit, discharge.^(Stelten 1995) It survives in Spanish ''librar'', French ''livrer'' and Portuguese ''livrar'', and was borrowed again as French ''libérer''.^(Wiktionary) Its participle ''līberātus'' gave [[en|liberate]] in the 1620s, and Late Latin ''dēlīberāre'' “to set free” gave [[en|deliver]] through Old French.^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of freeing slaves.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of political freedom and acquittal.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * before 223 AD – Ulpian uses it of freeing from a mortgage.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 1620s – English ''liberate'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Verb===
+ # To set free, [[m|en|manumit]] (a slave).^(OLD 2012)
+ # To make politically free.^(OLD 2012)
+ # To release; to deliver; to [[m|en|acquit]].^(OLD 2012)
+ # To release from an obligation; to discharge (a debt).^(OLD 2012)
+ # To free from a [[m|en|mortgage]].^(OLD 2012)
+ # To get clear of, cross.^(OLD 2012)
+
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[līberātiō]]
+ * [[līberātor]]
+ * [[līberātrīx]]
+
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[līber]]
+ * [[līberālis]]
+ * [[līberālitās]]
+ * [[līberāliter]]
+ * [[līberē]]
+ * [[līberī]]
+ * [[libērta]]
+ * [[lībērtās]]
+ * [[lībērtīnus]]
+ * [[lībērtō]]
+ * [[en|liberate]]
+ * [[en|deliver]]
+
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}