liberty

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lib·er·ty

(lĭb′ər-tē)

n. pl. lib·er·ties

1. The condition of being free from confinement, servitude, or forced labor.

a. The condition of being free from oppressive restriction or control by a government or other power.

b. A right to engage in certain actions without control or interference by a government or other power: the liberties protected by the Bill of Rights.

3. The right or power to act as one chooses: "Her upcountry isolation ... gave her the liberty to be what she wanted to be, free of the pressure of spotlights and literary fashions" (Lucinda Franks).

4. often liberties A deliberate departure from what is proper, accepted, or prudent, especially:

a. A breach or overstepping of propriety or social convention: "I'd leave her with a little kiss on the cheek—I never took liberties" (Harold Pinter).

b. A departure from strict compliance: took several liberties with the recipe.

c. A deviation from accepted truth or known fact: a historical novel that takes liberties with chronology.

d. An unwarranted risk; a chance: took foolish liberties on the ski slopes.

5. A period, usually short, during which a sailor is authorized to go ashore.

Idioms:

at liberty

1. Not in confinement or under constraint; free.

2. Entitled or permitted to do something: We found ourselves at liberty to explore the grounds.

take the liberty

To dare (to do something) on one's own initiative or without asking permission: I took the liberty to send you these pictures of my vacation.

[Middle English liberte, from Old French, from Latin lībertās, from līber, free; see leudh- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

liberty

(ˈlɪbətɪ)

n, pl -ties

1. the power of choosing, thinking, and acting for oneself; freedom from control or restriction

2. the right or privilege of access to a particular place; freedom

3. (often plural) a social action regarded as being familiar, forward, or improper

4. (often plural) an action that is unauthorized or unwarranted in the circumstances: he took liberties with the translation.

5. (Nautical Terms)

a. authorized leave granted to a sailor

b. (as modifier): liberty man; liberty boat.

6. at liberty free, unoccupied, or unrestricted

7. take liberties to be overfamiliar or overpresumptuous (with)

8. take the liberty to venture or presume (to do something)

[C14: from Old French liberté, from Latin lībertās, from līber free]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

lib•er•ty

(ˈlɪb ər ti)

n., pl. -ties.

1. freedom from arbitrary or despotic government or control.

2. freedom from external or foreign rule; independence.

3. freedom from control, interference, obligation, restriction, etc.

4. freedom from captivity, confinement, or physical restraint.

a. permission granted to a sailor to go ashore, usu. for less than 24 hours.

b. the time spent ashore.

6. freedom or right to frequent or use a place: The visitors were given the liberty of the city.

7. unwarranted or impertinent freedom in action or speech, or a form or instance of it: to take liberties.

8. a female figure personifying freedom from despotism.

Idioms:

at liberty,

a. free from captivity or restraint.

b. free to do or be as specified.

[1325–75; Middle English liberte < Middle French < Latin lībertās=līber free + -tās -ty²]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun	1.	liberty - immunity from arbitrary exercise of authority: political independence autonomy self-determination, self-government, self-rule - government of a political unit by its own people independence, independency - freedom from control or influence of another or others
	2.	liberty - freedom of choice; "liberty of opinion"; "liberty of worship"; "liberty--perfect liberty--to think or feel or do just as one pleases"; "at liberty to choose whatever occupation one wishes" freedom - the condition of being free; the power to act or speak or think without externally imposed restraints licence, license - freedom to deviate deliberately from normally applicable rules or practices (especially in behavior or speech) latitude - freedom from normal restraints in conduct; "the new freedom in movies and novels"; "allowed his children considerable latitude in how they spent their money" licence, license - excessive freedom; lack of due restraint; "when liberty becomes license dictatorship is near"- Will Durant; "the intolerable license with which the newspapers break...the rules of decorum"- Edmund Burke discretion - freedom to act or judge on one's own run - unrestricted freedom to use; "he has the run of the house"
	3.	liberty - personal freedom from servitude or confinement or oppression freedom - the condition of being free; the power to act or speak or think without externally imposed restraints
	4.	liberty - leave granted to a sailor or naval officer shore leave leave, leave of absence - the period of time during which you are absent from work or duty; "a ten day's leave to visit his mother"
	5.	liberty - an act of undue intimacy indecorum, impropriety, familiarity misbehavior, misbehaviour, misdeed - improper or wicked or immoral behavior

liberty

noun

1. independence, sovereignty, liberation, autonomy, immunity, self-determination, emancipation, self-government, self-rule Such a system would be a blow to the liberty of the people.

2. freedom, liberation, redemption, emancipation, deliverance, manumission, enfranchisement, unshackling, unfettering Three convictions meant three months' loss of liberty.
freedom restraint, constraint, slavery, imprisonment, captivity, tyranny, enslavement, restriction, duress

at liberty

3. free, escaped, unlimited, at large, not confined, untied, on the loose, unchained, unbound There is no confirmation that he is at liberty.

4. able, free, allowed, permitted, entitled, authorized I'm not at liberty to say where it is, because the deal hasn't gone through yet.

take liberties or a liberty not show enough respect, show disrespect, act presumptuously, behave too familiarly, behave impertinently She knew she was taking a big liberty in doing this for him without his knowledge.

Quotations
"I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!" [Patrick Henry]
"Liberty is liberty, not equality or fairness or justice or human happiness or a quiet conscience" [Isaiah Berlin Two Concepts of Liberty]
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure" [Thomas Jefferson]
"Liberty is precious - so precious that it must be rationed" [Lenin]
"Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it" [George Bernard Shaw Man and Superman]
"Liberty too must be limited in order to be possessed" [Edmund Burke Letter to the Sheriffs of Bristol]
"The liberty of the individual must be thus far limited; he must not make himself a nuisance to other people" [John Stuart Mill On Liberty]

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

liberty

noun

1. The state of not being in confinement or servitude:

emancipation, freedom, liberation, manumission.

2. The condition of being politically free:

autonomy, freedom, independence, independency, self-government, sovereignty.

3. Departure from normal rules or procedures:

freedom, license.

Translations

Spanish / Español

Select a language:

libertad atrevimiento

liberty

[ˈlɪbətɪ]

A. N

1. (= freedom) → libertad f
individual/personal liberty → libertad f individual/personal
to be at liberty (= free) → estar en libertad
to be at liberty to do sth → tener libertad para hacer algo, ser libre de hacer algo
I'm not at liberty to say who it was → no puedo decir quién fue

2. (= presumption, impertinence) → atrevimiento m
that was rather a liberty on his part → eso fue un atrevimiento por su parte
what a liberty! → ¡qué atrevimiento or descaro!
to take liberties with sb (= be cheeky) → tomarse libertades or demasiadas confianzas con algn; (sexually) → propasarse con algn
to take the liberty of doing sth → tomarse la libertad de hacer algo

B. CPD liberty bodice (o.f.) N → camiseta f interior

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

liberty

(ˈlibəti) noun

1. freedom from captivity or from slavery. He ordered that all prisoners should be given their liberty.libertad

2. freedom to do as one pleases. Children have a lot more liberty now than they used to.libertad

3. (especially with take) too great freedom of speech or action. I think it was (taking) a liberty to ask her such a question!libertad

ˈliberties noun plural

privileges, rights etc. civil liberties.privilegios, derechos

take the liberty of

to do without permission. I took the liberty of moving the papers from your desk – I hope you don't mind. tomarse la libertad de

liberty

n. libertad;

to be at ___ to → tener ___ para.

References in classic literature ?

Now the foundation of a democratical state is liberty, and people have been accustomed to say this as if here only liberty was to be found; for they affirm that this is the end proposed by every democracy.

View in context

Why, liberty! For three years and a half of my life I had had all the liberty I could wish for; but now, week after week, month after month, and no doubt year after year, I must stand up in a stable night and day except when I am wanted, and then I must be just as steady and quiet as any old horse who has worked twenty years.

View in context

And when they have emptied and swept clean the soul of him who is now in their power and who is being initiated by them in great mysteries, the next thing is to bring back to their house insolence and anarchy and waste and impudence in bright array having garlands on their heads, and a great company with them, hymning their praises and calling them by sweet names; insolence they term breeding, and anarchy liberty, and waste magnificence, and impudence courage.

View in context

The author has his liberty granted him upon certain conditions.]

View in context

By these means little Tommy, for so the bird was called, was become so tame, that it would feed out of the hand of its mistress, would perch upon the finger, and lie contented in her bosom, where it seemed almost sensible of its own happiness; though she always kept a small string about its leg, nor would ever trust it with the liberty of flying away.

View in context

An enlightened zeal for the energy and efficiency of government will be stigmatized as the offspring of a temper fond of despotic power and hostile to the principles of liberty. An over-scrupulous jealousy of danger to the rights of the people, which is more commonly the fault of the head than of the heart, will be represented as mere pretense and artifice, the stale bait for popularity at the expense of the public good.

View in context

That, hereupon he had ascertained, through the registers on the table, that his son-in-law was among the living prisoners, and had pleaded hard to the Tribunal--of whom some members were asleep and some awake, some dirty with murder and some clean, some sober and some not--for his life and liberty. That, in the first frantic greetings lavished on himself as a notable sufferer under the overthrown system, it had been accorded to him to have Charles Darnay brought before the lawless Court, and examined.

View in context

Thus, after a while, it seemed as if the liberty of the country was connected with Liberty Tree."

View in context

You wish to ask for liberty, and -- I give it you."

View in context

The instability, injustice, and confusion introduced into the public councils, have, in truth, been the mortal diseases under which popular governments have everywhere perished; as they continue to be the favorite and fruitful topics from which the adversaries to liberty derive their most specious declamations.

View in context

Well, I mean to give your watch liberty today, so you may get ready as soon all you please, and go; but understand this, I am going to give you liberty because I suppose you would growl like so many old quarter gunners if I didn't; at the same time, if you'll take my advice, every mother's son of you will stay aboard and keep out of the way of the bloody cannibals altogether.

View in context

Sir,--I hope you will excuse this liberty; I am forced upon it by the greatest distress, or I should be ashamed to trouble you.

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