Meaning ofliberty in English

liberty

noun

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/ˈlɪb.ə.ti/us

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/ˈlɪb.ɚ.t̬i/

libertynoun (FREEDOM)

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B2[U ]formal

thefreedom tolive as youwish or go where youwant:

For mostcitizens, libertymeans thefreedom topractise their religious orpolitical beliefs.

Hundreds ofpolitical prisoners are to begiventheir liberty(=released fromprison).

Of the ten men whoescaped thismorning from Dartmoor Prison, only two are stillat liberty(=free or notyet caught).

be at liberty to dosomethingC2formal

to beallowed to do something:

I'm not at liberty toreveal anynames.

liberties[plural ]formal

freedom tolive as youwish or go where youwant:

Theselaws willrestrict our ancient rights and liberties.

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He was an apostle ofworld liberty.
'Happiness', 'honesty' and 'liberty' areabstract nouns.
Hefought for his liberty.
Shebought her liberty with hardwork.
I am not at liberty totell you thefacts.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Freedom to act

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libertynoun (BAD BEHAVIOUR)

[C ]

anexample ofspeech orbehaviour thatupsets otherpeople because itshows littlerespect or does notfollow what isthought to bepolite oracceptable:

What a liberty, torefuse theinvitation onyour behalf, withouteven asking you!

take liberties (withsomething)

tochange something, such as apiece of writing orinformation, usually in a way thatpeople disagree with:

There have been severallegal clashes when otherartists have taken liberties with themelodies.

take liberties (withsomeone)old-fashioned

to be toofriendly with someone, usually in asexual way:

Some of theyounger womencomplained that he'd been taking liberties with them.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Rude and cheeky

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Idiom

take the liberty of doingsomething

(Definition ofliberty from theCambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

liberty | American Dictionary

liberty

noun[C/U ]

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/ˈlɪb·ər·t̬i/

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social studies

thefreedom tolive as youwish and go where youwant:

[C ]individual liberties

[U ]Ourgroup isfighting forindependence, liberty,democracy, andpeace.

at liberty

Someone who is at liberty to do something haspermission to do it:

I’m not at liberty todiscuss this with you.

(Definition ofliberty from theCambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examplesofliberty

liberty

Because this style of counterpoint is very difficult, certain liberties are permitted.

From theCambridge English Corpus

Negative duties thus appear considerably lessliberty-limiting than positive duties.

From theCambridge English Corpus

He had described at length how local government stimulated the right kinds of attitudes and customs for the preservation of an orderlyliberty.

From theCambridge English Corpus

It was a significant political problem especially for the guilds, because in their view it was a severe encroachment on their corporate liberties.

From theCambridge English Corpus

Debates about theliberty of religious conscience turned into debates about freedom of the press and freedom of speech.

From theCambridge English Corpus

Why was the village head omitted when his accomplices were arrested the next day, and why was he still atliberty?

From theCambridge English Corpus

Nevertheless, and perhaps surprisingly, the centralliberty principle admits censorship of certain extraordinary types of expression which necessarily harm others.

From theCambridge English Corpus

Instead, there is a systematic pattern of decreasing ethnic conflict when civil liberties increase.

From theCambridge English Corpus

Hereliberty is again figured in opposition to the internal tyranny of appetites.

From theCambridge English Corpus

We take theliberty of sugaring the syntax somewhat so that we may reuse without explanation the more mathematical notation already employed in this paper.

From theCambridge English Corpus

As with human resources, the pressure for freedom generated byliberty aspirations does not depend on the level of these values alone.

From theCambridge English Corpus

Notions of theliberty of guilds, burghers and even migrants remained an obstacle.

From theCambridge English Corpus

Their opponents hailed the importance of civil liberties throughout the life cycle.

From theCambridge English Corpus

It is the basis of under writing theliberty of others, not of obliterating it.

From theCambridge English Corpus

This contributes to the continued precedence of traditional moral mandates over advances in personal civil liberties.

From theCambridge English Corpus

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