Liberated

How to spell liberated

9 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce liberated

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does liberated mean?

1. verbReleased from confinement, control, or occupation.
2. adjectiveFree from restrictive social or sexual conventions and able to act independently.

Liberated in a sentence

• verb

  Allied troops liberated the town after months of occupation.

• adjective

  She felt completely liberated after finally leaving the controlling relationship.

• verb

  The rescue team liberated the trapped miners early in the morning.

• adjective

  His liberated attitude to money meant he never worried about saving.

Where does liberated come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin verb liberare, meaning 'to set free', which was built directly on the adjective liber, meaning 'free' (as opposed to a slave). The same liber root gave us 'liberty', 'liberal' and 'deliver', so its sense of release runs through a whole family of English words. English took the verb 'liberate' in the early 1600s, partly through the related French libérer and partly straight from the Latin past participle liberatus. The form 'liberated' is simply that verb with the regular English -ed ending, and by the twentieth century it had also grown an adjectival life describing a person freed from restrictive social conventions. Because the spelling keeps the plain Latin root liber intact, the only real care needed is the single b and the e-r-a-t-e-d sequence.

How the word is built

• liber (free)
• -ate (verb-forming)
• -ed (past tense/participle)