See Also: liberal(medicine)
liberal(dictionary)
Liberal(dictionary)
liberal arts(dictionary)
liberal 2, noun(dictionary)
liberal 1, adjective(dictionary)
Liberal Party(dictionary)
Liberal Democrats(dictionary)
liberal arts(encyclopedia)
Liberal Party(encyclopedia)

liberal (iou)



liberal adjective & noun. ME.
[Old & mod. French liberal from Latin liberalis, from liber free: see -AL1.]
A. adjective.
Orig., suitable for a free man or (in later use) a gentleman or person of social standing. Now only of education, culture, etc., usu. with an admixture of sense 4: directed to a general broadening of the mind, not restricted to the requirements of technical or professional training. ME.
C. Middleton Agriculture was held the most liberal employment in old Rome. Burke They are permitted..to emerge out of that low rank into a more liberal condition. Ld Macaulay Countries which neither mercantile avidity nor liberal curiosity had ever impelled any stranger to explore.
Free in giving; generous, open-handed. (Foll. by of.) ME.
M. C. Clarke With Cassio he is patronising, and liberal of his advice. R. K. Narayan He was very liberal in entertaining me.
b. Given or offered unstintingly; (of a meal, a helping, etc.) ample, lavish. LME.
J. Wain It seemed big to us, with its liberal allowance of bedrooms.
c. Of a part of the body, outline, etc.: full, large. E17.
a. Free from restraint in speech or action; unrestrained by prudence or decorum. LME-E18.
Shakespeare Hamlet Daisies, and long purples That liberal shepherds give a grosser name.
b. Of passage etc.: freely permitted, not interfered with. Long arch. M16.
c. Of interpretation: inclining to laxity or indulgence; not rigorous. Of a translation: free, not literal. L18.
Unprejudiced, open-minded; esp. free from bigotry or unreasonable prejudice in favour of traditional opinions or established institutions, open to the reception of new ideas. Of a member or branch of a Church or religion: holding opinions less traditional than those accepted as orthodox. L18.
James Mill Liberal enquiries into the literature..of the Hindus. W. P. Roberts I maintain that Liberal Protestantism..is not anti-dogmatic.
Favourable to or respectful of individual rights and freedoms; spec. (in politics) favouring free trade and gradual political and social reform that tends towards individual freedom or democracy. Also (usu. Liberal), belonging to the Liberal Party of Great Britain or any analogous party so named in another country. E19.
J. Barzun The liberal doctrine that school children have rights to freedom and individuality. C. Sagan Holland was the most liberal and least authoritarian nation in Europe during this time. A. Storr The conditions of his imprisonment were sufficiently liberal to allow him visits to his..family.
Special collocations & comb.: liberal arts: see ART noun1. Liberal Christian (a) US a Unitarian; also, a Universalist; (b) a Christian who rejects or considers unimportant many traditional beliefs. Liberal Democrat a member of a British political party (formerly the Social and Liberal Democrats) formed from the Liberal Party and members of the Social Democratic Party. Liberal Democratic adjective of or pertaining to the Liberal Democrats. Liberal Judaism a progressive movement in Judaism that abandons many of the traditional observances of Judaic law. Liberal-Labour adjective of or pertaining to (people associated with or sympathetic to) both Liberal and Labour parties. Liberal Party any of various political parties professing to favour progressive legislation; esp. (Hist.) a British political party which replaced the old Whig Party c 1860 and was one of the two dominant parties in Britain until c 1920 (in 1988 merged with the Social Democratic Party under the title the Social and Liberal Democrats, now Liberal Democrats). liberal studies a broadly-based additional course in arts subjects taken by students studying for a qualification in science, technology, or the humanities. Liberal Unionist a member of the party formed by those Liberals who would not support W. E. Gladstone's measure for Irish Home Rule in 1886.
b. noun.
The principal in a hierarchy of rogues. Criminals' slang. Only in M17.
Orig. (derog.), an extreme Whig. Later, a person of liberal principles or ideas; esp. (usu. Liberal) a member of the Liberal Party of Great Britain or of an analogous party of another country. E19.
Arnold Bennett Every Briton is at heart a Toryespecially every British Liberal. New Yorker I don't think he's a liberal..he wants to see the poor work for their money.
b. A person who holds liberal views in theology. E19.
liberally adverb in a liberal manner; esp. lavishly, profusely: LME.
liberalness noun LME.