Etymology and origin of the Romanian word liber
liber1 bast
Etymology tree of liber1
From the same root · liber1
Pronunciation
- /ˈli.ber/[1]
Forms
liber n (plural libere)[2] A rare old form is libru, in Barasch.[3]
Etymology
The word for the bast of plants is a learned loan: the DLR and MDA2 take it borrowed from Latin liber (“inner bark of a tree; book”) and French liber, the French botanical term.[3][4] The neologism dictionaries give French with the Latin word beside it.[5] Latin liber first meant the inner bark of a tree, on which people once wrote, and then a book.[6][7] De Vaan tentatively links it with words for bark and leaf in other Indo-European languages.[6]
Earliest recorded meaning
The first record is in Ion Brezoianu's textbook of agriculture of 1850, for the layer of the bark through which the sap flows.[4][3]
Semantic evolution
It stayed a botanical term: the tissue of vessels that carries the sap made in the leaves, and the part of the bark that holds it.[2][4] Barasch wrote that the bast of the elm and the lime can be peeled off in ribbons used for mats and baskets.[3] As a collective noun it also names the fibre taken from the bark of some trees, as in liber de tei “lime bast”.[3][2]
Timeline
- 1850 – in Brezoianu's textbook of agriculture, the first record.[4][3]
- 1939 – Scriban's dictionary defines it as the film between the bark and the wood.[7]
Meanings
Noun
liber2 free
Etymology tree of liber2
From the same root · liber2
Pronunciation
- /ˈli.ber/[1]
Forms
liber m or n (feminine singular liberă, masculine plural liberi, feminine/neuter plural libere)[1] Old forms include libăr, livăr and liver.[4] In the Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet the word was written либер.[1]
Etymology
The word for “free” is a neologism, borrowed from Latin līber (“free”) and French libre, with Italian libero named as a further model.[8][9][2][10][1] Ciorănescu dates the loan to the 19th century.[8] Latin līber goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₁lewdʰ-, the root of words for “people”, and is cognate with Ancient Greek ἐλεύθερος (eleútheros, “free”).[6][1]
Wiktionary considers Aromanian libir inherited.[1] Romanian ierta (“to forgive”) continues the Latin derivative lībertō (“to set free”).[11]
Earliest recorded meaning
MDA2's first record is a document of 1741 published by Iorga.[4] Tiktin's first date is Șincai's chronicle, around 1812.[10]
Semantic evolution
The DA notes that the neologism spread quickly from the start of the 19th century from the language of the learned into common speech, replacing the older slobod and volnic; all its senses are those of its French model, and its idioms are borrowed or calqued from French.[12] A text of 1825 still glosses it: „acolo să le fie patria, unde liberi (slobozi) vor putea viețui” “let their homeland be there, where they will be able to live free”.[9] Negulici listed it among the neologisms in 1848.[13]
From people free of bondage, the senses spread to independent peoples and states, to actions without restriction (traducere liberă “free translation”, versuri libere “free verse”), to time and places not taken up (loc liber “a free seat”), and to manners without restraint.[2][14][12] A colloquial phrase of the 1990s, a pune pe liber, means “to dismiss from a job”.[15]
Timeline
- 1741 – the first record, in a document published by Iorga.[4]
- c. 1812 – in Șincai's chronicle.[10]
- 1825 – liberi (slobozi) “free”, glossed with the old word.[9]
- 1848 – in Negulici's dictionary of neologisms.[13]
- 1870 – traducție liberă “free translation” and versuri libere “free verse” in Costinescu's dictionary.[14]
Meanings
Adjective
- free: of people, enjoying freedom and full civil and political rights; of peoples and states, independent.[2][4]
- Able to act as one wishes, not under any constraint; slobod: liber-arbitru “free will”.[2]
- Of actions, not subject to arbitrary restriction: traducere liberă “free translation”, intrare liberă “free admission”, profesie liberă “a profession practised on one's own account”.[2]
- Of time, at one's own disposal, outside one's duties: a avea liber “to be off work”.[2]
- Of seats, rooms, lodgings, not occupied; vacant.[2]
- Of people, not bound to others; unattached, available.[2]
- Natural, easy, without stiffness: a vorbi liber “to speak without notes; to speak openly”.[2]
- In the phrases în aer liber “in the open air” and sub cerul liber “under the open sky”.[2]
Word family
- liber-schimbist
- liber-profesionist
- liber-cugetător
Related words
- libertate
- liberal
- elibera
- Aromanian libir
- Latin liber
Usage notes
DEX gives the botanical noun as liber¹ and the adjective as liber².[2] MDA2 has a third, regional liber “notebook” in Transylvania, which it compares with German Libell.[4]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 588
- ^ a b c d e f Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. líber
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1358
- ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. liber
- ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
- ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 743
- ^ a b Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001), p. s.v. liber
- ^ a b c Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. libér
- ^ a b c Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. líber
- ^ Graur, Alexandru (1980), Cuvinte înrudite, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică
- ^ a b Academia Română (1913–1949), Dicționarul limbii române (DA), ed. Sextil Pușcariu, tom I (A–B, C, D–De) and tom II (F–I, J–Lojniță), București: Socec / Universul / Monitorul Oficial și Imprimeriile Statului; page scans at cflr-scans.solirom.ro, p. s.v. líber, -ă
- ^ a b Negulici, I. D. (1848), Vocabular romînesc de toate vorbele streine întroduse pînă acum în limba romînească și de toate cuvintele ce s-ar mai putea introduce încă, București, p. s.v. liber
- ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 33
- ^ Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE), p. s.v. líber
Related etymologies
Cite this entry
“Liber.” Etymologically, 11 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/liber. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.
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