personal liberty

noun

1. the liberty of an individual to act with free will except for those restraints imposed by law to safeguard the physical, moral, political, and economic welfare of others.

Word History and Origins

Origin of personal liberty¹

First recorded in 1840–50

Example Sentences

These include anxiety about unnatural substances in the body, vaccines as government surveillance or weapons, and personal liberty violations.

From Science News

As freelance writer Tara Haelle reports, anti-vaccination groups argued that requiring vaccination violated personal liberty and interfered with parents’ rights to “protect their children from disease.”

From Science News

Obviously, that allows us to impose enormous infringements on personal liberty.

From The Daily Beast

“Hospital management has been privatized, and so personal liberty is being bought and sold,” said Wang.

From The Daily Beast

Are we still a nation born of personal liberty, opportunity, and self-reliance?

From The Daily Beast

They struggled against their masters, and tried to secure their personal liberty, and the freedom of their land.

From Project Gutenberg

They not only managed most of its details for him, but were permitted a good deal of personal liberty.

From Project Gutenberg

The mountaineer is restive under discipline and passionate in his insistence on personal liberty.

From Project Gutenberg

What advantage shall we have in strengthening the empire of Rome, if we cannot preserve our personal liberty?

From Project Gutenberg

The reasons adduced among us in justification of slaveholding, and therefore against personal liberty, are multitudinous.

From Project Gutenberg