liberation
Americannoun
-
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
-
a liberating or being liberated
-
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
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
"Maus II: And Here My Troubles Began" by Art Spiegelman
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Passover Vocabulary
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
By the 1960s, the women's liberation movement began challenging many of those norms.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
"This loss is immense, but the path forward continues until liberation."
From Barron's ● May 16, 2026
There he began developing the theories that would direct his life and work—the idea, for instance, that a “talented tenth” would lead black America to liberation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 2026
Distilled to vocals, guitar, bass, piano and drums as Perry sheds a lifetime of weight, the song ends on a single, resonant power chord — a sonic declaration of liberation.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 7, 2026
The certainty that he was finally fighting for his own liberation and not for abstract ideals, for slogans that politicians could twist left and right according to the circumstances, filled him with an ardent enthusiasm.
From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
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
She recalled the deprivations of Paris during World War II in terms that could also apply to the limitations and liberations of creating art in one’s 11th decade.
From New York Times ● Apr. 15, 2016
We shall have to assume that those liberations of pleasure and pain automatically regulate the outlet of the occupation processes.
From Dream Psychology Psychoanalysis for Beginners by Freud, Sigmund
Definitions 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.
