liberal arts

American  

plural noun

1. the academic course of instruction at a college intended to provide general knowledge and comprising the arts, humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences, as opposed to professional or technical subjects.

2. (during the Middle Ages) studies comprising the quadrivium and trivium, including arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, music, grammar, rhetoric, and logic.

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liberal arts British  

plural noun

1. Often shortened to: arts.  the fine arts, humanities, sociology, languages, and literature

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liberal arts ¹ Cultural  

1. The areas of learning that cultivate general intellectual ability rather than technical or professional skills. The term liberal arts is often used as a synonym for humanities, although the liberal arts also include the sciences. The word liberal comes from the Latin liberalis, meaning suitable for a free man, as opposed to a slave.

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liberal arts ² Cultural  

1. The areas of learning that cultivate general intellectual ability rather than technical or professional skills. Liberal arts is often used as a synonym for humanities, because literature, languages, history, and philosophy are often considered the primary subjects of the liberal arts. The term liberal arts originally meant arts suitable for free people (libri in Latin) but not for slaves.

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Etymology

Origin of liberal arts

First recorded in 1745–55; translation of Latin artēs līberālēs “works befitting a free person,” literally, “skills of freedom”

Example Sentences

Outside students from a liberal arts college are practiced in abstract analytical thinking—how institutions are made, what purpose they serve, for whom.

From Slate • May 27, 2026

Among the buildings damaged in the weekend attack was the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, a small college that specialises in liberal arts.

From Barron's • May 25, 2026

He advised students in liberal arts to major in law, accounting, or Chinese literature, reasoning that these fields most commonly led to recruitment after civil service exams.

From BBC • Mar. 27, 2026

“Vladimir” began shooting in July 2025 in Toronto, which stood in for an undefined liberal arts college town.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 26, 2026

My sister is going to a “small liberal arts college back East” called Sarah Lawrence.

From "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky

Related Words

• mathematics