liberar

Galician

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₁lewdʰ-

Proto-Indo-European *-eros

Proto-Indo-European *h₁léwdʰeros

Proto-Italic *louðeros

Old Latin loeber

Latin līber

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu.

Proto-Italic *-ājō

Proto-Italic *-āō

Latin -ō

Latin līberārelbor.

Galician liberar

Learned borrowing from Latin līberāre.

Verb

liberar (first-person singular present libero, first-person singular preterite liberei, past participle liberado)

1. (transitive) to liberate, free

Conjugation

    Conjugation of liberar

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (ti)	Third-person (el / ela / Vde.)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / Vdes.)
Infinitive
Impersonal	liberar
Personal	liberar	liberares	liberar	liberarmos	liberardes	liberaren
Gerund
	liberando
Past participle
Masculine	liberado			liberados
Feminine	liberada			liberadas
Indicative
Present	libero	liberas	libera	liberamos	liberades	liberan
Imperfect	liberaba	liberabas	liberaba	liberabamos	liberabades	liberaban
Preterite	liberei	liberaches	liberou	liberamos	liberastes	liberaron
Pluperfect	liberara	liberaras	liberara	liberaramos	liberarades	liberaran
Future	liberarei	liberarás	liberará	liberaremos	liberaredes	liberarán
Conditional	liberaría	liberarías	liberaría	liberariamos	liberariades	liberarían
Subjunctive
Present	libere	liberes	libere	liberemos	liberedes	liberen
Imperfect	liberase	liberases	liberase	liberásemos	liberásedes	liberasen
Future	liberar	liberares	liberar	liberarmos	liberardes	liberaren
Imperative
Affirmative		libera	libere	liberemos	liberade	liberen
Negative (non)		non liberes	non libere	non liberemos	non liberedes	non liberen

    Reintegrated conjugation of liberar (See Appendix:Reintegrationism)

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (ti / tu)	Third-person (ele / ela / você)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / vocês)
Infinitive
Impersonal	liberar
Personal	liberar	liberares	liberar	liberarmos	liberardes	liberarem
Gerund
	liberando
Past participle
Masculine	liberado			liberados
Feminine	liberada			liberadas
Indicative
Present	libero	liberas	libera	liberamos	liberades, liberais	liberam
Imperfect	liberava	liberavas	liberava	liberávamos	liberávades, liberáveis, liberávais1	liberavam
Preterite	liberei	liberaste, liberache1	liberou	liberamos	liberastes	liberárom, liberaram
Pluperfect	liberara	liberaras	liberara	liberáramos	liberárades, liberáreis, liberárais1	liberaram
Future	liberarei	liberarás	liberará	liberaremos	liberaredes, liberareis	liberarám, liberarão
Conditional	liberaria	liberarias	liberaria	liberaríamos	liberaríades, liberaríeis, liberaríais1	liberariam
Subjunctive
Present	libere	liberes	libere	liberemos	liberedes, libereis	liberem
Imperfect	liberasse	liberasses	liberasse	liberássemos	liberássedes, liberásseis	liberassem
Future	liberar	liberares	liberar	liberarmos	liberardes	liberarem
Imperative
Affirmative		libera	libere	liberemos	liberade, liberai	liberem
Negative (nom)		nom liberes	nom libere	nom liberemos	nom liberedes, nom libereis	nom liberem

¹Less recommended.

Related terms

• libertade, liberdade
• libre

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /li.beˈrar/
• Rhymes: -ar
• Hyphenation: li‧be‧ràr

Verb

liberar (apocopated)

1. apocopic form of liberare

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin līberāre. Doublet of livrar, which was inherited.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /li.beˈɾa(ʁ)/ [li.beˈɾa(h)]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /li.beˈɾa(ʁ)/ [li.beˈɾa(h)]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /li.beˈɾa(ɾ)/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /li.beˈɾa(ʁ)/ [li.beˈɾa(χ)]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /li.beˈɾa(ɻ)/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /li.bɨˈɾaɾ/ [li.βɨˈɾaɾ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /li.bɨˈɾaɾ/ [li.βɨˈɾaɾ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /li.bɨˈɾa.ɾi/

• Hyphenation: li‧be‧rar

Verb

liberar (first-person singular present libero, first-person singular preterite liberei, past participle liberado)

1. to release (free, liberate)

   Synonyms: soltar, libertar

2. to allow; to legalise

   Synonym: legalizar

3. to clear, to give clearance

   A guarda de trânsito já liberou o tráfego.

   The traffic has already been cleared by the traffic police.

4. to discharge (from medical obligations)

   O médico olhou meu exame e me liberou.

   The physician had a look at my test and discharged me.

Conjugation

    Conjugation of liberar (See Appendix:Portuguese verbs)

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (tu)	Third-person (ele / ela / você)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / vocês)
Infinitive
Impersonal	liberar
Personal	liberar	liberares	liberar	liberarmos	liberardes	liberarem
Gerund
	liberando
Past participle
Masculine	liberado			liberados
Feminine	liberada			liberadas
Indicative
Present	libero	liberas	libera	liberamos	liberais	liberam
Imperfect	liberava	liberavas	liberava	liberávamos	liberáveis	liberavam
Preterite	liberei	liberaste	liberou	liberamos1, liberámos2	liberastes	liberaram
Pluperfect	liberara	liberaras	liberara	liberáramos	liberáreis	liberaram
Future	liberarei	liberarás	liberará	liberaremos	liberareis	liberarão
Conditional	liberaria	liberarias	liberaria	liberaríamos	liberaríeis	liberariam
Subjunctive
Present	libere	liberes	libere	liberemos	libereis	liberem
Imperfect	liberasse	liberasses	liberasse	liberássemos	liberásseis	liberassem
Future	liberar	liberares	liberar	liberarmos	liberardes	liberarem
Imperative
Affirmative		libera	libere	liberemos	liberai	liberem
Negative (não)		não liberes	não libere	não liberemos	não libereis	não liberem

¹Brazilian Portuguese.
²European Portuguese.

Related terms

• liberação
• liberdade
• libertar

Further reading

• “liberar”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “liberar”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin līberāre. Doublet of librar, which was inherited. Cognate with English liberate.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /libeˈɾaɾ/ [li.β̞eˈɾaɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: li‧be‧rar

Verb

liberar (first-person singular present libero, first-person singular preterite liberé, past participle liberado)

1. to liberate, to release, to free, to set free, to free up
   • 2025 August 3, Edward-Isaac Dovere, “Demócratas a favor de Israel intentan distanciarse de Netanyahu para frenar el giro del partido en medio de la crisis en Gaza”, in CNN en Español‎^[1]:

     Chuck Schumer y Kirsten Gillibrand, quien lidera la comisión de campaña del Senado demócrata, han expresado su preferencia por Stevens, quien publicó la semana pasada una declaración en la que hace un llamado a cooperar para lograr que llegue comida a Gaza y liberar a los rehenes israelíes.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. to deliver, to rid (someone from/of something)

   Synonym: librar

3. to relieve (e.g., relieve pressure, tension, stress)

   Synonym: aliviar

4. (physiology, chemistry) to release
   • 2001, Nancy Touchette, Todo Y Más Sobre La Diabetes, Pearson Educación, →ISBN, page 215:

     Cuando su nivel de glucosa es demasiado bajo, su cuerpo libera hormonas que pueden causar que el hígado libere más glucosa.

     When your glucose level is too low, your body releases hormones that can make the liver release more glucose.

Conjugation

    Conjugation of liberar (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			liberar
gerund			liberando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		liberado		liberada
		plural		liberados		liberadas
		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	libero	liberastú liberásvos	libera	liberamos	liberáis	liberan
	imperfect	liberaba	liberabas	liberaba	liberábamos	liberabais	liberaban
	preterite	liberé	liberaste	liberó	liberamos	liberasteis	liberaron
	future	liberaré	liberarás	liberará	liberaremos	liberaréis	liberarán
	conditional	liberaría	liberarías	liberaría	liberaríamos	liberaríais	liberarían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	libere	liberestú liberésvos2	libere	liberemos	liberéis	liberen
	imperfect (ra)	liberara	liberaras	liberara	liberáramos	liberarais	liberaran
	imperfect (se)	liberase	liberases	liberase	liberásemos	liberaseis	liberasen
	future1	liberare	liberares	liberare	liberáremos	liberareis	liberaren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		liberatú liberávos	libere	liberemos	liberad	liberen
	negative		no liberes	no libere	no liberemos	no liberéis	no liberen

¹Rare; now chiefly used in legal language.
²Argentine and Uruguayan voseo prefers the tuteo-form for the present subjunctive.

    Selected combined forms of liberar

These forms are generated automatically and may not actually be used. Pronoun usage varies by region.

		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
with infinitive liberar	dative	liberarme	liberarte	liberarle, liberarse	liberarnos	liberaros	liberarles, liberarse
	accusative	liberarme	liberarte	liberarlo, liberarla, liberarse	liberarnos	liberaros	liberarlos, liberarlas, liberarse
with gerund liberando	dative	liberándome	liberándote	liberándole, liberándose	liberándonos	liberándoos	liberándoles, liberándose
	accusative	liberándome	liberándote	liberándolo, liberándola, liberándose	liberándonos	liberándoos	liberándolos, liberándolas, liberándose
with informal second-person singular tuteo imperative libera	dative	libérame	libérate	libérale	libéranos	not used	libérales
	accusative	libérame	libérate	libéralo, libérala	libéranos	not used	libéralos, libéralas
with informal second-person singular voseo imperative liberá	dative	liberame	liberate	liberale	liberanos	not used	liberales
	accusative	liberame	liberate	liberalo, liberala	liberanos	not used	liberalos, liberalas
with formal second-person singular imperative libere	dative	libéreme	not used	libérele, libérese	libérenos	not used	libéreles
	accusative	libéreme	not used	libérelo, libérela, libérese	libérenos	not used	libérelos, libérelas
with first-person plural imperative liberemos	dative	not used	liberémoste	liberémosle	liberémonos	liberémoos	liberémosles
	accusative	not used	liberémoste	liberémoslo, liberémosla	liberémonos	liberémoos	liberémoslos, liberémoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative liberad	dative	liberadme	not used	liberadle	liberadnos	liberaos	liberadles
	accusative	liberadme	not used	liberadlo, liberadla	liberadnos	liberaos	liberadlos, liberadlas
with formal second-person plural imperative liberen	dative	libérenme	not used	libérenle	libérennos	not used	libérenles, libérense
	accusative	libérenme	not used	libérenlo, libérenla	libérennos	not used	libérenlos, libérenlas, libérense

Derived terms

• liberación

Related terms

• libertad
• librar
• libre

Further reading

• “liberar”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025