Liberty

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: Lib=er=ty

CIDE DICTIONARY

Liberty, n. [OE. liberte, F. liberté, fr. L. libertas, fr. liber free. See Liberal.].

•  The state of a free person; exemption from subjection to the will of another claiming ownership of the person or services; freedom; -- opposed to slavery, serfdom, bondage, or subjection.  [1913 Webster]

  "But ye . . . caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid whom he had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and brought them into subjection."  [1913 Webster]

  "Delivered fro the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God."  [1913 Webster]
•  Freedom from imprisonment, bonds, or other restraint upon locomotion.  [1913 Webster]

  "Being pent from liberty, as I am now."  [1913 Webster]
•  A privilege conferred by a superior power; permission granted; leave; as, liberty given to a child to play, or to a witness to leave a court, and the like.  [1913 Webster]
•  Privilege; exemption; franchise; immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant; as, the liberties of the commercial cities of Europe.  [1913 Webster]

  "His majesty gave not an entire county to any; much less did he grant . . . any extraordinary liberties."  [1913 Webster]
•  The place within which certain immunities are enjoyed, or jurisdiction is exercised.  [1913 Webster]

  "Brought forth into some public or open place within the liberty of the city, and there . . . burned."  [1913 Webster]
•  A certain amount of freedom; permission to go freely within certain limits; also, the place or limits within which such freedom is exercised; as, the liberties of a prison.  [1913 Webster]
•  A privilege or license in violation of the laws of etiquette or propriety; as, to permit, or take, a liberty.  [1913 Webster]

  "He was repeatedly provoked into striking those who had taken liberties with him."  [1913 Webster]
•  The power of choice; freedom from necessity; freedom from compulsion or constraint in willing.  [1913 Webster]

  "The idea of liberty is the idea of a power in any agent to do or forbear any particular action, according to the determination or thought of the mind, whereby either of them is preferred to the other."  [1913 Webster]

  "This liberty of judgment did not of necessity lead to lawlessness."  [1913 Webster]
•  A curve or arch in a bit to afford room for the tongue of the horse.  [1913 Webster]
•  Leave of absence; permission to go on shore.  [1913 Webster]

At liberty. (a) Unconfined; free. (b) At leisure. -- Civil liberty, exemption from arbitrary interference with person, opinion, or property, on the part of the government under which one lives, and freedom to take part in modifying that government or its laws. -- Liberty bell. See under Bell. -- Liberty cap. (a) The Roman pileus which was given to a slave at his manumission. (b) A limp, close-fitting cap with which the head of representations of the goddess of liberty is often decked. It is sometimes represented on a spear or a liberty pole. -- Liberty of the press, freedom to print and publish without official supervision. Liberty party, the party, in the American Revolution, which favored independence of England; in more recent usage, a party which favored the emancipation of the slaves. -- Liberty pole, a tall flagstaff planted in the ground, often surmounted by a liberty cap. [U. S.] -- Moral liberty, that liberty of choice which is essential to moral responsibility. -- Religious liberty, freedom of religious opinion and worship.

Syn. -- Leave; permission; license.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Liberty, n. (pl. -ies)
1 a freedom from captivity, imprisonment, slavery, or despotic control. b a personification of this.
2 a the right or power to do as one pleases. b (foll. by to + infin.) right, power, opportunity, permission. c Philos. freedom from control by fate or necessity.
3 a (usu. in pl.) a right, privilege, or immunity, enjoyed by prescription or grant. b (in sing. or pl.) hist. an area having such privileges etc., esp. a district controlled by a city though outside its boundary or an area outside a prison where some prisoners might reside.
4 setting aside of rules or convention.

Idiom

at liberty
1 free, not imprisoned (set at liberty).
2 (foll. by to + infin.) entitled, permitted.
3 available, disengaged. Liberty Bell (in the US) a bell in Philadelphia rung at the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. liberty boat Brit. Naut. a boat carrying liberty men. liberty bodice a close-fitting under-bodice. liberty hall a place where one may do as one likes. liberty horse a horse performing in a circus without a rider. liberty man Brit. Naut. a sailor with leave to go ashore. liberty of the subject the rights of a subject under constitutional rule. Liberty ship hist. a prefabricated US-built freighter of the war of 1939-45.
take liberties
1 (often foll. by with) behave in an unduly familiar manner.
2 (foll. by with) deal freely or superficially with rules or facts. take the liberty (foll. by to + infin., or of + verbal noun) presume, venture.

Etymology

ME f. OF libert{eacute} f. L libertas -tatis f. liber free

DEVIL DICTIONARY

Liberty

n. One of Imagination's most precious possessions.

The rising People, hot and out of breath,
Roared around the palace: "Liberty or death!"
"If death will do," the King said, "let me reign;
You'll have, I'm sure, no reason to complain."
Martha Braymance

THESAURUS

Liberty

Lehrfreiheit, OK, a leg up, academic freedom, admission, allowance, assumption, at liberty, authorization, autonomy, blank check, brevet, carte blanche, chance, charter, clear stage, concession, consent, constitutional freedom, copyright, delivery, diploma, diplomatic immunity, discharge, dispensation, emancipation, enfranchisement, exception, exemption, fair field, fair game, familiarity, favor, franchise, free, freedom, freedom from fear, freedom from want, freedom of worship, furlough, grant, holiday, hubris, immunity, imposition, independence, indulgence, initiative, lawlessness, leave, leave of absence, legislative immunity, letters patent, liberated, liberation, liberties, liberty abused, license, licentiousness, loose, occasion, okay, opening, opportunism, opportunity, paid holiday, paid vacation, patent, permission, permission to enter, place, prerogative, presumption, presumptuousness, privilege, release, right, room, royal grant, run, sabbatical, sabbatical leave, sabbatical year, scope, self-determination, self-direction, self-government, shore leave, sovereignty, special favor, special permission, stepping-stone, the Four Freedoms, the run of, ticket, ticket of admission, time, time off, unconstrained, undue liberty, unfettered, uninhibited, unrestrained, unrestricted, vacation, vouchsafement, waiver, warrant, weekend

ROGET THESAURUS

Liberty

Freedom

N freedom, liberty, independence, license, facility, scope, range, latitude, play, free play, full play, free scope, full scope, free stage and no favor, swing, full swing, elbowroom, margin, rope, wide berth, Liberty Hall, franchise, denization, free man, freed man, livery man, denizen, autonomy, self-government, liberalism, free trade, noninterference, Monroe Doctrine, immunity, exemption, emancipation, enfranchisement, affranchisement, free land, freehold, allodium, frankalmoigne, mortmain, bushwhacker, freelance, free thinker, free trader, independent, free, free as air, out of harness, independent, at large, loose, scot-free, left alone, left to oneself, in full swing, uncaught, unconstrained, unbuttoned, unconfined, unrestrained, unchecked, unprevented, unhindered, unobstructed, unbound, uncontrolled, untrammeled, unsubject, ungoverned, unenslaved, unenthralled, unchained, unshackled, unfettered, unreined, unbridled, uncurbed, unmuzzled, unrestricted, unlimited, unmitigated, unconditional, absolute, discretionary, unassailed, unforced, uncompelled, unbiassed, spontaneous, free and easy, at ease, at one's ease, degage, quite at home, wanton, rampant, irrepressible, unvanquished, exempt, freed, freeborn, autonomous, freehold, allodial, gratis, eleutherian, unclaimed, going a begging, freely, ad libitum, ubi libertas ibi patria, free white and twenty-one.

Permission

N permission, leave, allowance, sufferance, tolerance, toleration, liberty, law, license, concession, grace, indulgence, favor, dispensation, exemption, release, connivance, vouchsafement, authorization, warranty, accordance, admission, permit, warrant, brevet, precept, sanction, authority, firman, hukm, pass, passport, furlough, license, carte blanche, ticket of leave, grant, charter, patent, letters patent, permitting, permissive, indulgent, permitted, patent, chartered, permissible, allowable, lawful, legitimate, legal, legalized, licit, unforbid, unforbidden, unconditional, by leave, with leave, on leave, speciali gratia, under favor of, pace, ad libitum, by all means, yes, avec permissin, brevet d'invention.

Dueness

N due, dueness, right, privilege, prerogative, prescription, title, claim, pretension, demand, birthright, immunity, license, liberty, franchise, vested interest, vested right, sanction, authority, warranty, charter, warrant, constitution, tenure, bond, claimant, appellant, plaintiff, having a right to, entitled to, claiming, deserving, meriting, worthy of, privileged, allowed, sanctioned, warranted, authorized, ordained, prescribed, constitutional, chartered, enfranchised, prescriptive, presumptive, absolute, indefeasible, unalienable, inalienable, imprescriptible, inviolable, unimpeachable, unchallenged, sacrosanct, due to, merited, deserved, condign, richly deserved, allowable, lawful, licit, legitimate, legal, legalized, square, unexceptionable, right, equitable, due, en r gle, fit, fitting, correct, proper, meet, befitting, becoming, seemly, decorous, creditable, up to the mark, right as a trivet, just the thing, quite the thing, selon les r gles, duly, ex officio, de jure, by right, by divine right, jure divino, Dei gratia, in the name of, civis Romanus sum, +a chaque saint sa chandelle.

Exemption

N exemption, absence, exception, immunity, privilege, release, exempt from, devoid of, without, unpossessed of, unblest with, immune from, not having, unpossessed, untenanted, without an owner, unobtained, unacquired, exemption, freedom, irresponsibility, immunity, liberty, license, release, exoneration, excuse, dispensation, absolution, franchise, renunciation, discharge, exculpation, exempt, free, immune, at liberty, scot-free, released, unbound, unencumbered, irresponsible, unaccountable, not answerable, excusable, bonis nocet quisquis pepercerit malis.