freedom from arbitrary or despotic government or control.
freedom from external or foreign rule; independence.
freedom from control, interference, obligation, restriction, hampering conditions, etc.; power or right of doing, thinking, speaking, etc., according to choice.
freedom from captivity, confinement, or physical restraint.
The prisoner soon regained his liberty.
permission granted to a sailor, especially in the navy, to go ashore.
freedom or right to frequent or use a place.
The visitors were given the liberty of the city.
unwarranted or impertinent freedom in action or speech, or a form or instance of it.
to take liberties.
a female figure personifying freedom from despotism.
the power of choosing, thinking, and acting for oneself; freedom from control or restriction
the right or privilege of access to a particular place; freedom
(often plural) a social action regarded as being familiar, forward, or improper
(often plural) an action that is unauthorized or unwarranted in the circumstances
he took liberties with the translation
authorized leave granted to a sailor
( as modifier )
liberty man
liberty boat
free, unoccupied, or unrestricted
to be overfamiliar or overpresumptuous (with)
to venture or presume (to do something)
See freedom.
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English liberte, from Middle French, from Latin lībertāt-, stem of lībertās, equivalent to līber “free” + -tās -ty 2
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.
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The part that so many Americans are taught in school is: “We hold these truths to be self-evident … life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
From Slate • Jul. 3, 2026
But when we really got into it, there’s a form underneath and you can take tremendous liberty with that form,” Was said.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 3, 2026
For them, American liberty implied freedom to simply write the kind of music they cared about.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 2, 2026
Nor are the formerly enslaved Americans who forced the nation to confront the grotesque contradiction between slavery and constitutional liberty.
From Slate • Jul. 2, 2026
Her body was locked up tight, years ago, by the boundaries of her costly liberty.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
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.
