Jump To:

• liberty
  liberty

  noun

  freedom from arbitrary or despotic government or control.
• Liberty
  Liberty

  noun

  a town in W Missouri.

Trivia Time

To whom is the famous quote "Give me liberty, or give me death" attributed?

Test Your Knowledge

liberty

¹ American  

[lib-er-tee] / ˈlɪb ər ti /

noun

• liberties
  plural

1. freedom from arbitrary or despotic government or control.

2. freedom from external or foreign rule; independence.

3. freedom from control, interference, obligation, restriction, hampering conditions, etc.; power or right of doing, thinking, speaking, etc., according to choice.

4. freedom from captivity, confinement, or physical restraint.

   The prisoner soon regained his liberty.

   Synonyms:

   liberation

5. permission granted to a sailor, especially in the navy, to go ashore.

6. freedom or right to frequent or use a place.

   The visitors were given the liberty of the city.

   Synonyms:

   immunity, privilege, license, permission, franchise

7. unwarranted or impertinent freedom in action or speech, or a form or instance of it.

   to take liberties.

8. a female figure personifying freedom from despotism.

---

idioms

1. at liberty,

   1. free from captivity or restraint.

   2. unemployed; out of work.

   3. free to do or be as specified.

      You are at liberty to leave at any time during the meeting.

Liberty ² American  

[lib-er-tee] / ˈlɪb ər ti /

noun

1. a town in W Missouri.

---

liberty British  

/ ˈlɪbətɪ /

noun

1. the power of choosing, thinking, and acting for oneself; freedom from control or restriction

2. the right or privilege of access to a particular place; freedom

3. (often plural) a social action regarded as being familiar, forward, or improper

4. (often plural) an action that is unauthorized or unwarranted in the circumstances

   he took liberties with the translation

5. 1. authorized leave granted to a sailor

   2. ( as modifier )

      liberty man

      liberty boat

6. free, unoccupied, or unrestricted

7. to be overfamiliar or overpresumptuous (with)

8. to venture or presume (to do something)

---

liberty More Idioms  

1. see at liberty; take the liberty of.

---

Synonym Usage

See freedom.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• liberties
  plural

Etymology

Origin of liberty

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English liberte, from Middle French, from Latin lībertāt-, stem of lībertās, equivalent to līber “free” + -tās -ty ²

Explanation

Liberty is a kind of freedom, whether it's freedom from tyranny, freedom from confinement, or simply the freedom of choice. The phrase "give me liberty or give me death" is attributed to Patrick Henry, whose 1775 speech persuaded the Virginia colony to raise troops to fight the British in the American Revolutionary War. For sailors and naval officers, liberty means shore leave — a brief vacation on land between voyages. We also use this noun to describe the act of getting a little too familiar or personal with someone, or doing something before we have their approval or permission.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

liberty Liberty liberties

The Red Cross said the visit was carried out in accordance with its procedures for visiting people deprived of liberty, which included the opportunity to speak in private.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026

We transformed the Supreme Court’s “Nothing to see here” into an avowal of the freedom to marry under the Constitution’s double helix of liberty and equality for all.

From Slate ● Aug. 3, 2026

Their scrappy determination helped convince family members, neighbors and eventually the rest of the country that the Constitution’s guarantees of liberty and equality applied to same-sex couples.

From Slate ● Aug. 1, 2026

Last year, President Donald Trump tapped him to lead a new commission on religious liberty.

From Salon ● Jul. 31, 2026

This slowed them down, but we soon came to ‘with liberty and justice for all’.

From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck

Hazard was sent off for the kick at the Liberty Stadium, and later apologised, but the incident prompted widespread debate among football fans, players and pundits about who was at fault.

From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026

Quirky characters are particularly important to businesses in categories like insurance that sell no tangible product, said Jenna Lebel, CMO for U.S. retail markets at Liberty Mutual.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

His wife, model Karlie Kloss, has a stake in the WNBA’s New York Liberty.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026

A meteor streaked across the New York City area in broad daylight on July 16, 2024, producing a sonic boom as it passed just south of the Statue of Liberty.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 8, 2026

There were Sons of Liberty in cities in every colony.

From "George Washington, Spymaster" by Thomas B. Allen

Patterson and editor Patrick J. Smith interweave scenes of intrigue and shocking violence, take liberties with Amziah’s storytelling asides and give us barn-burning musical sequences.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

"David Davis resigned his seat and stood again as a protest over the issue of civil liberties," explained Whiteley.

From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026

But whether it was from Jefferson’s faulty recollections or Trumbull’s artistic liberties, or both, the resulting scene bears little resemblance to how it really was.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 4, 2026

Opponents, including civil liberties organizations and some religious leaders, counter that the curriculum risks moving beyond the academic study of religion and into religious instruction.

From Salon ● Jun. 27, 2026

Embracing a continuity and interconnectedness that excluded no one seemed like another of Farmer’s peculiar liberties.

From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French