Liberties

1 definition found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Liberty \Lib"er*ty\ (l[i^]b"[~e]r*t[y^]), n.; pl. {Liberties}
     (-t[i^]z). [OE. liberte, F. libert['e], fr. L. libertas, fr.
     liber free. See {Liberal}.]
     1. The state of a free person; exemption from subjection to
        the will of another claiming ownership of the person or
        services; freedom; -- opposed to slavery, serfdom,


        bondage, or subjection.
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              But ye . . . caused every man his servant, and every
              man his handmaid whom he had set at liberty at their
              pleasure, to return, and brought them into
              subjection.                           --Jer. xxxiv.
                                                    16.
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              Delivered fro the bondage of corruption into the
              glorious liberty of the sons of God.  --Bible, 1551.
                                                    Rom. viii. 21.
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     2. Freedom from imprisonment, bonds, or other restraint upon
        locomotion.
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              Being pent from liberty, as I am now. --Shak.
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     3. A privilege conferred by a superior power; permission
        granted; leave; as, liberty given to a child to play, or
        to a witness to leave a court, and the like.
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     4. Privilege; exemption; franchise; immunity enjoyed by
        prescription or by grant; as, the liberties of the
        commercial cities of Europe.
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              His majesty gave not an entire county to any; much
              less did he grant . . . any extraordinary liberties.
                                                    --Sir J.
                                                    Davies.
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     5. The place within which certain immunities are enjoyed, or
        jurisdiction is exercised. [Eng.]
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              Brought forth into some public or open place within
              the liberty of the city, and there . . . burned.
                                                    --Fuller.
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     6. A certain amount of freedom; permission to go freely
        within certain limits; also, the place or limits within
        which such freedom is exercised; as, the liberties of a
        prison.
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     7. A privilege or license in violation of the laws of
        etiquette or propriety; as, to permit, or take, a liberty.
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              He was repeatedly provoked into striking those who
              had taken liberties with him.         --Macaulay.
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     8. The power of choice; freedom from necessity; freedom from
        compulsion or constraint in willing.
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              The idea of liberty is the idea of a power in any
              agent to do or forbear any particular action,
              according to the determination or thought of the
              mind, whereby either of them is preferred to the
              other.                                --Locke.
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              This liberty of judgment did not of necessity lead
              to lawlessness.                       --J. A.
                                                    Symonds.
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     9. (Manege) A curve or arch in a bit to afford room for the
        tongue of the horse.
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     10. (Naut.) Leave of absence; permission to go on shore.
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     {At liberty}.
         (a) Unconfined; free.
         (b) At leisure.
  
     {Civil liberty}, exemption from arbitrary interference with
        person, opinion, or property, on the part of the
        government under which one lives, and freedom to take part
        in modifying that government or its laws.
  
     {Liberty bell}. See under {Bell}.
  
     {Liberty cap}.
         (a) The Roman pileus which was given to a slave at his
             manumission.
         (b) A limp, close-fitting cap with which the head of
             representations of the goddess of liberty is often
             decked. It is sometimes represented on a spear or a
             liberty pole.
  
     {Liberty of the press}, freedom to print and publish without
        official supervision.
  
     {Liberty party}, the party, in the American Revolution, which
        favored independence of England; in more recent usage, a
        party which favored the emancipation of the slaves.
  
     {Liberty pole}, a tall flagstaff planted in the ground, often
        surmounted by a liberty cap. [U. S.]
  
     {Moral liberty}, that liberty of choice which is essential to
        moral responsibility.
  
     {Religious liberty}, freedom of religious opinion and
        worship.
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     Syn: Leave; permission; license.
  
     Usage: {Liberty}, {Freedom}. These words, though often
            interchanged, are distinct in some of their
            applications. Liberty has reference to previous
            restraint; freedom, to the simple, unrepressed
            exercise of our powers. A slave is set at liberty; his
            master had always been in a state of freedom. A
            prisoner under trial may ask liberty (exemption from
            restraint) to speak his sentiments with freedom (the
            spontaneous and bold utterance of his feelings). The
            liberty of the press is our great security for freedom
            of thought.
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