Define Liberty
For citizens of the United States of America, the word "liberty" is a term that is frequently used. It is a popular word in many corners of the globe, where its meaning and connotation are not always the same. In fact, several hundred years ago, the word "liberty" had a somewhat different social meaning than the democracy-related one it holds today.
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Function
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The word "liberty" operates as a noun, which, according to the Summer Institute of Linguistics, is a word that "refers to people, places, things, ideas or concepts." While some nouns can only function as one kind of entity, liberty is an idea, a concept and sometimes a thing.
History
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According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, liberty has a variety of etymological origins that generally have the same meaning. Liberty originated in Middle English, deriving from the Anglo-French word liberté. It also is derived from several Latin words meaning "free."
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Meaning
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Liberty has several different, although related, meanings. The most common of those meanings is the idea that one who possesses liberty has the "quality or state of being free ... (leading to) the freedom of choice." Liberty can also be defined as having "immunity...(or) permission...to go freely." Liberty is also seen as a "basic political, social and economic right" that is afforded to people within a country.
Besides its meaning of freedom, liberty has a more socially related meaning. Liberty can refer to the act of "taking liberties with someone," which refers to inappropriate behavior, sometimes in a sexual nature, that can be categorized as harassment. One can also "take liberties" with information, in which a person presents facts as "deliberately inaccurate."
Additionally, liberty is defined as a "short authorized leave from ... duties" in the U.S. Navy.
Examples
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There are many examples of uses of liberty. The Statue of Liberty is an excellent model found within the United States of America, with the female form embodied in the statue representing the concept of liberty on which the U.S. government is based. U.S. citizens also have liberties in the form of rights granted by the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights, such as freedom of speech and freedom of religion.
In practical terms, a person is "at liberty" to travel from one state to another within the United States, but without a passport, a traveler from the United States is not "at liberty" to travel to Mexico or other nations abroad. Similarly, a novelist may "take liberties" with facts in order to create an interesting story.
Considerations
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According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, liberty is directly related to the words freedom, familiarity and privilege.
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