laissez faire

See also: laissez-faire

English

WOTD – 13 July 2008

Alternative forms

• laissez-faire, laisser faire, laisser-faire

Etymology

Borrowed from French laissez faire (“leave it be”, literally “let do”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈlæseɪ ˌfɛə(ɹ)/, /ˈleɪseɪ ˌfɛə(ɹ)/
• (General American) enPR: lĕs'ā fârʹ, lĕz'ā, lā'sā('), lā'zā('), IPA^(key): /ˌlɛ(ˌ)seɪ ˈfɛəɹ/, /ˌleɪ-/, /-(ˌ)zeɪ/

• Audio (US):

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• Audio (General Australian):

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• Rhymes: -ɛə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: lais‧sez faire

Noun

laissez faire (uncountable)

1. (economics, politics) A policy of governmental non-interference in economic affairs.
   • 1843 April, Thomas Carlyle, chapter 9, in Past and Present, American edition, Boston, Mass.: Charles C[offin] Little and James Brown, published 1843, →OCLC, book I (Proem), page 106:

     In brief, all this Mammon-Gospel of Supply-and-demand, Competition, Laissez-faire, and Devil take the hindmost, begins to be one of the shabbiest Gospels ever preached on Earth; or altogether the shabbiest.

   • 2001 [1944], Karl Polanyi, “12. Birth of the Liberal Creed”, in The Great Transformation‎^[1]:

     While laissez-faire economy was the product of deliberate State action, subsequent restrictions on laissez-faire started in a spontaneous way. Laissez-faire was planned; planning was not.

2. A policy of non-interference by authority in any competitive process.

Translations

economics: a policy of governmental non-interference in economic affairs

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 放任 (zh) (fàngrèn), 不干涉 (zh) (bùgānshè), 自由放任 (zh) (zìyóufàngrèn)

• Finnish: laissez-faire-politiikka
• French: laissez-faire (fr) m, laisser-faire (fr) m
• Georgian: ჩაურევლობა (čaurevloba)
• German: Laissez-faire n
• Icelandic: afskiptaleysi stjórnvalda n
• Indonesian: laissez faire
• Japanese: レッセフェール (ressefēru), 自由放任 (じゆうほうにん, jiyūhōnin)
• Malay: laissez-faire
• Portuguese: laissez-faire m
• Russian: невмеша́тельство (ru) n (nevmešátelʹstvo), лессе-фе́р m (lessɛ-fɛ́r)
• Swedish: laissez-faire (sv), låt gå
• Turkish: laissez-faire

Adjective

laissez faire (comparative more laissez faire, superlative most laissez faire)

1. (economics, politics) Practicing or representing governmental noninterference, or minimal interference, especially in economic affairs; pertaining to free-market capitalism.

   I think the city should take a laissez faire approach to this; getting involved would only make things worse.

2. (economics, politics) Advocating such noninterference.

   The Senator claims to be laissez faire, but he voted in favor of the subsidies.

3. (economics) Resulting from such noninterference.

   The price ceiling was well below the laissez faire price that demand would have supported, so there were always shortages.

   • 2001 [1944], Karl Polanyi, “12. Birth of the Liberal Creed”, in The Great Transformation‎^[2]:

     While laissez-faire economy was the product of deliberate State action, subsequent restrictions on laissez-faire started in a spontaneous way. Laissez-faire was planned; planning was not.

4. (of a person) Avoiding interference in other people's affairs; choosing to live and let live.

Translations

economics, politics: practicing or representing governmental noninterference, or minimal interference

• Finnish: laissez-faire

politics: advocating such noninterference

economics: resulting from such noninterference

of a person: avoiding interference in other people's affairs

• Icelandic: afskiptalaus m, afskiptaleysis- (is)

See also

• benign neglect
• hands off
• laissez aller
• laissez passer
• let it be
• let nature take its course

French

Noun

laissez faire m (uncountable)

1. (rare) Dated form of laisser-faire.

Verb

laissez faire

1. inflection of laisser faire:
   1. second-person plural present indicative
   2. second-person plural imperative

Indonesian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French leave it be (literally “let do”).

Noun

laissez faire

1. (economics, politics) laissez faire

Further reading

• “laissez faire” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.