libertine English · revision 900

11 Oct 2026, 01:58 by bogdan “New entry from the dictionary sources (AHD, Barnhart, Etymonline, MW, OED, RHWU, Wiktionary)” current version
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+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA: /ˈlɪb.ə.tiːn/ ''(UK)''; /ˈlɪb.ɚ.tin/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is [[inh|enm|libertyn|t=freedman]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) [[bor|la|lībertīnus|t=freedman; of a freedman]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) from ''lībertus'' “freedman”,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) from ''līber'' “free”.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) The sense “freethinker” comes from [[fr|libertin]], originally the name of certain pantheistic Protestant sects.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)
+ 
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ In Roman antiquity, a freedman, one freed from slavery (1382 in the OED; about 1384 in Barnhart).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ In the 16th century the word named antinomian sects in France and elsewhere, and then anyone holding free or loose opinions about religion, a freethinker (1563–83),^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) a sense influenced by [[liberty]] and [[liberal]].^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) The sense of a man who is not restrained by morality, a dissolute or licentious person, appeared in 1593,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) perhaps helped by a misunderstanding of the word in Acts 6:9.^(Etymonline) The adjective followed the same path, from “freethinking” (1577) to “dissolute” (1605).^(Barnhart 1995)
+ 
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 1382 – a Roman freedman.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)
+ * 1563–83 – a freethinker.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)
+ * 1577 – adjective, freethinking.^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)
+ * 1593 – a dissolute person.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)
+ * 1605 – adjective, dissolute.^(Barnhart 1995)
+ 
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Noun===
+ # A person, especially a man, who acts without moral restraint, especially in sexual matters; a [[rake]] or profligate.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+ # A [[freethinker]], especially in religious matters.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+ # ''(history)'' A freed slave in ancient Rome.^(RHWU)^(OED 1989)^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ===Adjective===
+ # Morally unrestrained; [[dissolute]] or licentious.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[liberate]]
+ * [[liberal]]
+ * [[liberty]]
+ * [[libertinism]]
+ * [[libertinage]]
+ * [[rake]]
+ * [[roué]]
+ 
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}