liberation
Americannoun
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liberations
plural
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the act of liberating or the state of being liberated.
-
the act or fact of gaining equal rights or full social or economic opportunities for a particular group.
noun
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a liberating or being liberated
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the seeking of equal status or just treatment for or on behalf of any group believed to be discriminated against
women's liberation
animal liberation
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of liberation
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin līberātiōn-, stem of līberātiō; equivalent to liberate + -ion
Explanation
Liberation means the setting free of someone or something. Wild animals raised in captivity are often unprepared for their liberation when they are released back into the wild. You'll notice right off the bat that liberation is related to the noun liberty — as in "liberty and justice for all." The difference is that liberation refers specifically to the act of being made free, of going from having no freedom to having it. Famous moments of liberation include Europe's liberation from the Nazis, the slaves' liberation from slavery in the U.S., and South Africa's liberation from the oppression of apartheid.
Vocabulary lists containing liberation
Stargirl
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"Maus II: And Here My Troubles Began" by Art Spiegelman
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
In the sealed amber world of the Woodstock era, liberation is all.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026
“I hope to keep making records, but I also have the understanding that I have the freedom and liberation to be able to make a record and not necessarily worry about its commercial prospects.”
From Salon ● Sep. 18, 2026
While her work has caught the eye of celebrities like actors Jessica Alba and Christina Ricci, Rosales remains consistent in her vision, aesthetic and commitment to brown collectivity and liberation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
Gloria Steinem, who became a face of the women's liberation movement in the US, has died, aged 92, her foundation says.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
The way to achieve the ultimate liberation through lifelessness is to cease paying heed to the illusion of reality.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
Indigenous communities - many disenchanted by years of unmet government promises - have long histories of occupations, which they call liberations.
From Reuters ● Sep. 30, 2022
“The Help” relegates the turbulence of the civil-rights era to a chaste backdrop for the vibrant liberations of its affluent housewives.
From The New Yorker ● May 31, 2019
“Notre-Dame is our history, our literature, part of our psyche, the place of all our great events, our epidemics, our wars, our liberations, the epicenter of our lives,” he said.
From Fox News ● Apr. 16, 2019
“The place of all our great events, our epidemics, our wars, our liberations, the epicenter of our lives.”
From Washington Post ● Apr. 15, 2019
I think I speak accurately when I say, that hitherto every sacrifice for the emancipation of slaves has been made by Southern men; and many hundred thousand dollars have been expended in such liberations.
From Cotton is King, and Pro-Slavery Arguments Comprising the Writings of Hammond, Harper, Christy, Stringfellow, Hodge, Bledsoe, and Cartrwright on This Important Subject by E. N. Elliott
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
