Etymology of the English word liberal
the English word
liberalderived from the Old French word
liberalderived from the Latin word
liberalis (honorable; courteous, well bred)
derived from the Latin word
liber (book, volume; inner bark of a tree; children; child; free; unimpeded; void of; unconstrained, unrestrained, unencumbered)
derived from the Proto-Indo-European root
*leudh-Date
The earliest known usage of liberal in English dates from the 14th century.
Derivations in English
liberalism,
liberalize,
ultraliberal,
neoliberalismCognates
Catalan
lliberal, Dutch
liberaal, French
libéral, German
liberal, Italian
liberale, Lithuanian
liberalus, Norwegian
liberal, Russian
либepaльный, Spanish
liberal, Swedish
liberalUsage
Word found in Modern English
