lib
[lib]
- liberation(def 2): women's lib; gay lib.
- a libber.
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Origin of lib
First recorded in 1965–70; by shortening
lib.1
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Origin of lib.1
From the Latin word liber
lib.2
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Lib.
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ad lib
[ad lib, ad]
- something improvised in speech, music, etc.: Was that joke part of your speech or an ad lib?
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- at one's pleasure; without restriction.
- freely; as needed; without stint: Water can be given to the patients ad lib.
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Origin of ad lib
First recorded in 1810–20; see origin at ad libitum
ad lib.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for lib
Contemporary Examples
Nick Clegg, the Lib Dem Deputy Prime Minister, attacked the Conservatives for their predictable response to the report.
In contrast to that finale, That Girl ends with Ann Marie taking her fiancé to a Women's Lib meeting.
Some Lib Dem supporters sought to dismiss the allegations as overblown.
In London, the Lib Dem mayoral candidate, Brian Paddick, came in fourth place behind the Green Party candidate, Jenny Jones.
She was in New York during the swinging ‘60s—and a well-respected female editor during the years of Women’s Lib.
Historical Examples
We crept to the back of the bower, and Lib leaned over and looked in.
Scævolæ Sammarthani, Elogia doctorum in Gallia virorum, lib.
The Rise of the Hugenots, Vol. 1 (of 2)Henry Martyn Baird
Then after awhile I strolls down to the lib'ry and makes myself to home some more.
TorchySewell Ford
They bunched together panicky and started back for the lib'ry.
Torchy, Private Sec.Sewell Ford
But there's someone in the lib'ry you could soothe with a word or two maybe.
Torchy, Private Sec.Sewell Ford
lib
- informal, sometimes derogatory short for liberation (def. 2)
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lib.
- librarian
- library
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Lib.
- Liberal
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for lib
n.
1969, American English, shortening of liberation, used with possessives, originally in Women's Lib. Colloquial shortening libber for liberationist is attested from 1971.
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ad lib
1811, shortened from Latin ad libitum "at one's pleasure, as much as one likes" (c.1600), from libere "to please" (see libido). First recorded as one word 1919 (v.), 1925 (n.).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
ad lib.
- ad libitum (freely, as desired)
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.