liberate

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin līberātus, past participle of līberō (“to set free, deliver”), from līber (“free”); see liberal.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɪbəɹeɪt/
• Hyphenation: lib‧er‧ate

Verb

1. (transitive) To set free, to make or allow to be free, particularly
   1. To release from slavery: to manumit.
   2. To release from servitude or unjust rule.
   3. To release from restraint or inhibition.
      • 1991 May 12, "Kidnapped!" Jeeves and Wooster, Series 2, Episode 5:

        Jeeves: Foreign travel often liberates emotions best kept in check, sir. The air of North America is notoriously stimulating in this regard, as witness the regrettable behavior of its inhabitants in 1776.
        B. Wooster: Hm? What happened in 1776, Jeeves?
        Jeeves: I prefer not to dwell on it, if it's convenient to you, sir.

      You need to free your mind and liberate yourself from prejudice.

   4. (chemistry) To release from chemical bonds or solutions.

      Since the procedure liberates a large amount of chlorine gas, a powerful ventilation system is recommended.

2. (transitive, military, euphemistic) To acquire from an enemy during wartime, used especially of cities, regions, and other population centers.
3. (transitive, euphemistic) To acquire from another by theft or force: to steal, to rob.

   We didn't need IDs. We just liberated these beers from the back of the shop.

Synonyms

• befree, free, set free

Related terms

• liberation
• liberator

Translations

to free

• Afrikaans: bevry
• Albanian: liroj (sq), çliroj (sq)
• Amharic: please add this translation if you can
• Arabic: حَرَّرَ (ar) (ḥarrara)
• Aragonese: please add this translation if you can
• Armenian: ազատագրել (hy) (azatagrel)
• Asturian: lliberar
• Azerbaijani: azad etmək
• Belarusian: вызваля́ць impf (vyzvaljácʹ), вы́зваліць pf (výzvalicʹ)
• Breton: please add this translation if you can
• Bulgarian: освобожда́вам (bg) impf (osvoboždávam), освободя́ pf (osvobodjá)
• Burmese: လွတ်မြောက်စေ (lwatmraukce)
• Catalan: alliberar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 解放 (zh) (jiěfàng)

• Czech: osvobozovat impf, osvobodit (cs) pf
• Danish: befri, frigøre
• Dhivehi: please add this translation if you can
• Dutch: bevrijden (nl)
• Esperanto: liberigi
• Estonian: vabastama (et)
• Extremaduran: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: vapauttaa (fi)
• French: libérer (fr)
• Galician: liberar (gl), ceibar
• Georgian: გათავისუფლება (gatavisupleba)
• German: befreien (de)
• Greek: ελευθερώνω (el) (eleftheróno)
• Hebrew: שיחרר \ שִׁחְרֵר (he) (shikhrér)
• Hindi: मुक्त करना (mukt karnā)
• Icelandic: frelsa (is)
• Ido: libereskar (io)
• Irish: saoirigh
• Italian: liberare (it)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Japanese: 解放する (ja) (かいほうする, kaihō suru)
• Khmer: រំដោះ (km) (rumdɑh)
• Korean: 해방하다 (ko) (haebanghada) (解放 (ko) + 하다 (ko) (hada))
• Lao: please add this translation if you can
• Latin: libero, liberto
• Latvian: atbrīvot
• Lithuanian: išlaisvinti, išvaduoti
• Luxembourgish: befreien
• Macedonian: ослободува impf (osloboduva), ослободи pf (oslobodi)
• Maori: whakawātea (mi), wewete
• Mirandese: please add this translation if you can
• Norwegian: frigjøre (no)
• Pashto: please add this translation if you can
• Persian: آزاد کردن (fa) (âzâd kardan), رهانیدن (fa) (rahânidan)
• Polish: uwalniać (pl) impf, uwolnić (pl) pf, wyzwalać (pl) impf, wyzwolić (pl) pf, oswabadzać impf, oswobodzić pf
• Portuguese: libertar (pt)
• Punjabi: ਅਜ਼ਾਦ ਕਰਨਾ (pa) (azād karnā), ਰਿਹਾਈ ਦੇਣੀ (rihāī deṇī)
• Quechua: qispichiy
• Russian: освобожда́ть (ru) impf (osvoboždátʹ), освободи́ть (ru) pf (osvobodítʹ), вызволя́ть (ru) impf (vyzvoljátʹ), вы́зволить (ru) pf (výzvolitʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ослобађати impf, ослободити pf

  Roman: oslobađati (sh) impf, osloboditi (sh) pf

• Slovak: oslobodzovať impf, oslobodiť (sk) pf
• Slovene: osvobajati impf, osvoboditi pf
• Somali: please add this translation if you can
• Spanish: liberar (es)
• Swedish: frigöra (sv), befria (sv)
• Thai: ปลดปล่อย (th) (bplòt-bplɔ̀i)
• Turkish: serbest bırakmak (tr)
• Ukrainian: звільня́ти impf (zvilʹnjáty), звільни́ти pf (zvilʹnýty), визволя́ти impf (vyzvoljáty), ви́зволити pf (výzvolyty)
• Vietnamese: giải phóng (vi) (解放)
• Volapük: please add this translation if you can
• Walloon: please add this translation if you can
• Welsh: rhyddhau (cy)
• Yiddish: באַפֿרײַען (bafrayen)

to steal or abscond with something

• Latin: libero, liberto
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

Further reading

• “liberate”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “liberate”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• beertail, iterable

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Italian

Verb

liberate

1. second-person plural present of liberare
2. second-person plural imperative of liberare

Anagrams

• albereti, bilatere

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Latin

Verb

(deprecated template usage) līberāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of līberō

Participle

(deprecated template usage) līberāte

1. vocative masculine singular of līberātus