liberation

See also: libération

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French libération, and from Latin liberatio, liberationem (“a freeing”), from liberare past participle liberatus (“set free”); see liberate.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪʃən

Noun

liberation (countable and uncountable, plural liberations)

1. The act of liberating or the state of being liberated.

   The liberation of American slaves was accomplished by the Department of War, that of British slaves by the Exchequer.

   • 1995, Julius Evola, “The Two Paths in the Afterlife”, in Guido Stucco, transl., Revolt against the Modern World‎^[1], Rochester, Vermont: Inner Traditions International, translation of Rivolta contro il mondo moderno, →ISBN, page 50:

     People saw in the elders, who were closer to death, the manifestation of the divine force that was thought to achieve its full liberation at death.

2. (euphemistic or ironic) Synonym of conquest or theft.

   The War of 1848 effected the liberation of the Southwest from Mexico by the grace of Gawd.

   As the activists congratulated themselves on the liberation of most of the farm's chickens, the first batch of roadkill was created on the nearby interstate.

3. (politics) The achievement of equal rights and status, particularly as seen as freedom from historic and structural oppression.

   women's liberation... black liberation... gay liberation...

Synonyms

• emancipation, independence

Antonyms

• enslavement, oppression

Derived terms

• animal liberation
• black liberation
• gay liberation
• liberation theology
• male liberation
• pseudo-liberation
• queer liberation
• women's liberation

 

Related terms

• liberate

Translations

act of liberating or the state of being liberated

• Albanian: çlirim (sq) m
• Arabic: تَحْرِير m (taḥrīr)
• Armenian: ազատագրում (hy) (azatagrum), ազատում (hy) (azatum)
• Belarusian: вызвале́нне n (vyzvaljénnje)
• Bengali: মুক্তি (bn) (mukti), আজাদী (bn) (ajadi)
• Bulgarian: освобожде́ние (bg) n (osvoboždénie)
• Catalan: alliberament (ca) m, alliberació f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 解放 (zh) (jiěfàng)

• Czech: osvobození (cs) n
• Danish: befrielse c, frigørelse c
• Dutch: bevrijding (nl) f
• Esperanto: liberigo
• Estonian: vabastamine
• Finnish: vapautus (fi)
• French: libération (fr) f
• Georgian: განთავისუფლება (ka) (gantavisupleba)
• German: Befreiung (de) f
• Gujarati: મુક્તિ (mukti)
• Hebrew: שִׁחְרוּר (he) m (shikhrúr)
• Hindi: मुक्ति (hi) f (mukti), आज़ादी (hi) f (āzādī), रिहाई (hi) f (rihāī), मोक्ष (hi) m (mokṣ)
• Hungarian: felszabadítás (hu)
• Irish: saoradh m
• Italian: liberazione (it) f
• Japanese: 解放 (ja) (かいほう, kaihō)
• Kazakh: босату (bosatu)
• Korean: 해방(解放) (ko) (haebang)
• Lao: ການປົດປ່ອຍ (kān pot pǭi)
• Latin: līberātiō f
• Latvian: atbrīvošana f
• Lithuanian: išsivadavimas m
• Macedonian: ослободување n (osloboduvanje)
• Malay: pembebasan
• Malayalam: മുക്തി (ml) (mukti), വിമോചനം (ml) (vimōcanaṁ)
• Maltese: liberazzjoni f
• Maori: whakawāteatanga
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: чөлөөлөлт (čölöölölt), ангижрал (mn) (angižral)

• Ngazidja Comorian: mfunguo class 3/4
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: frigjøring (no) m or f, befrielse m

• Odia: ମୁକ୍ତି (or) (mukti)
• Persian: رهایی (fa) (rahâyi), تحریر (fa) (tahrir)
• Polish: wyzwolenie (pl) n, oswobodzenie n, uwolnienie (pl) n
• Portuguese: liberação (pt) f, libertação (pt) f
• Punjabi: ਅਜ਼ਾਦੀ (pa) (azādī), ਲਿਬ੍ਰੇਸ਼ਨ (libreśan), ਰਿਹਾਈ (rihāī), ਮੁਕਤੀ (muktī)
• Romanian: liberație f
• Russian: освобожде́ние (ru) n (osvoboždénije)
• Sanskrit: मोक्ष (sa) m (mokṣa), मुक्ति (sa) f (mukti)
• Scottish Gaelic: saoradh m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ослобође́ње n

  Roman: oslobođénje (sh) n

• Slovak: oslobodenie n
• Spanish: liberación (es) f
• Swedish: befrielse (sv) c, frigörelse (sv) c
• Telugu: ముక్తి (te) (mukti)
• Thai: การปลดปล่อย (th) (gaan-bplòt-bplɔ̀i)
• Turkish: liberasyon (tr), özgürleştirme (tr), kurtuluş (tr)
• Ukrainian: визво́лення n (vyzvólennja), зві́льнення n (zvílʹnennja)
• Vietnamese: giải phóng (vi) (解放 (vi)), sự giải phóng (vi)
• Yiddish: באַפֿרײַונג f (bafrayung)

achievement of equal rights and status

• Bengali: আজাদী (bn) (ajadi)
• Hungarian: felszabadítás (hu)
• Italian: emancipazione (it) f
• Maltese: liberazzjoni f
• Scottish Gaelic: saoradh m

References

• “liberation”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• liberation in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
• "liberation" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 181.
• “liberation”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “liberation”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• libationer