Fwd: "liberty" - Word of the Day from the OED

[Dave Monroe]

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Subject: "liberty" - Word of the Day from the OED
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OED Online Word of the Day

________________________________

liberty, n.1

SECOND EDITION 1989

(lbt)  Also 4-6 lib-, lyberte(e, 5-7 -tie, -tye, 6 libartye. [a. F.
liberté (14th c. in Littré) = Pr. libertat, It. libertà, Sp. libertad,
Pg. liberdade, ad. L. lbertt-em, f. lber free.]

    1. a. Exemption or release from captivity, bondage, or slavery.

c1386 CHAUCER Manciple's T. 70 His libertee this brid desireth ay.
c1425 LYDG. Assembly of Gods 1272 By duresse & constreynt to put thys
creature Cleerly from hys liberte. 1514 BARCLAY Cyt. & Uplondyshm.
(Percy Soc.) p. xlix, The caytif beggar hath meate & libertie. 1535
COVERDALE Ps. xvii[i]. 19 He brought me forth..in to lyberte. 1611
BIBLE Isa. lxi. 1 To proclaime libertie to the captiues. 1727 DE FOE
Syst. Magic I. iii. (1840) 71 Moses and Aaron were to assure Pharaoh
that God sent them, and they were in his Name to demand liberty for
the Children of Israel. 1852 MRS. STOWE Uncle Tom's C. vii. 42 She
gazed..on the sullen, surging waters that lay between her and liberty.

    b. In religious use: Freedom from the bondage of sin, or of the law.

1382 WYCLIF 2 Cor. iii. 17 Forsoth where is the spirit of God, there
is liberte. c1410 HOCCLEVE Mother of God 76 at vn-to libertee Fro
thraidam han vs qwit. 1526 TINDALE Jas. i. 25 Whosoever loketh in the
parfait lawe off libertie, and continueth there in. 1543 BECON Nosegay
Kvjb, This spiritual liberte maketh vs not free from our obedience &
dutye towarde the temporal power. 1604 HIERON Wks. I. 482 This
libertie, which Christians haue, is a spirituall libertie, a heauenly
liberty, a liberty of the soule..which setteth the soule at liberty
from destruction. 1823 SIMEON in Memoirs (1847) 587 The boundaries of
Christian liberty and Christian duty.

    2. a. Exemption or freedom from arbitrary, despotic, or autocratic
rule or control. cap of liberty: see CAP n.1 4f.

1484 CAXTON Fables of Æsop II. i, Fredome and lyberte is better than
ony gold or syluer. 1565 COOPER Thesaurus, s.v. Libertas, To defende
the libertie of the common weale. 1649 CULPEPPER Phys. Direct. A, The
Prize which We now..play for is The Liberty of the Subject. 1654
BRAMHALL Just Vind. i. (1661) 4 They..vindicate that liberty left them
as an inheritance by their Ancestours, from the incroachments..of the
Court of Rome. 1690 LOCKE Govt. II. iv. §22 Wks. 1727 II. 165 The
Liberty of Man, in Society, is to be under no other Legislative Power,
but that established by Consent in the Commonwealth. 1759 FRANKLIN
Ess. Wks. 1840 III. 429 Those who would give up essential liberty, to
purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor
safety. 1789 BURKE Corr. (1844) III. 105 You hope, sir, that I think
the French deserving of liberty. I certainly do. 1816 J. SCOTT Vis.
Paris (ed. 5) p. xxxiv, Liberty is the chief distinction of England
from other European countries. 1845 MILL Ess. II. 244 The modern
spirit of liberty is the love of individual independence. 1854 J. S.
C. ABBOTT Napoleon (1855) II. xxvii. 493 Be careful not to suffer
liberty to degenerate into license, or anarchy to take the place of
order. 1874 GREEN Short Hist. viii. §5. 500 Eliot died, the first
martyr of English liberty, in the Tower.

    b. natural liberty: the state in which every one is free to act as
he thinks fit, subject only to the laws of nature. civil liberty:
natural liberty so far restricted by established law as is expedient
or necessary for the good of the community. liberty of conscience: the
system of things in which a member of a state is permitted to follow
without interference the dictates of his conscience in the profession
of any religious creed or the exercise of any mode of worship. liberty
of the press: the recognition by the state of the right of any one to
print and publish whatever he pleases without previous governmental
permission.
  The liberty of the press is not understood to imply absence of
liability to judicial punishment for the publication of libellous or
criminal matter, nor to be inconsistent with the right of the courts
to prohibit a particular publication as involving a wrong to some
person.

a1572 KNOX Hist. Ref. Wks. 1846 I. 364 To suffer euerie man to leaf at
libertie of conscience. 1580 J. HAY in Cath. Tract. (1901) 61 Quhy in
the beginning of your new Euangell preached ye libertie of conscience.
1601 R. JOHNSON Kingd. & Commw. (1603) 250 That he woulde suffer them
to enjoy the libertie of their conscience. 1644 MILTON Areop. (Arb.)
31 When complaints are freely heard, deeply consider'd, and speedily
reform'd, then is the utmost bound of civill liberty attain'd, that
wise men looke for. 1651 HOBBES Leviath. II. xxi. 108 Naturall
liberty, which only is properly called liberty. 1678 WANLEY Wond. Lit.
World V. i. §98. 4687 In the treaty of Passaw was granted Liberty of
Conscience to the Professors of the Augustane Confession 1769
BLACKSTONE Comm. IV. 151 The liberty of the press is..essential to the
nature of a free state. 1771 SMOLLETT Humph. Cl. 2 June, Let. ii, As
for the liberty of the press,..it must be restrained. 1832 AUSTIN
Jurispr. (1879) I vi. 281 Political or civil liberty is the liberty
from legal obligation which is left or granted by a sovereign
government to any of its subjects. 1858 [see CONSCIENCE 4].

    3. a. The condition of being able to act in any desired way
without hindrance or restraint; faculty or power to do as one likes.

c1374 CHAUCER Troylus v. 285 It lay not in his libertee No-wher to
gon. c1386 Clerk's T. 89, I me reioysed of my libertee, That selde
tyme is founde in mariage. 1390 GOWER Conf. III. 180 He kepte his
liberte To do justice and equite. 1530 PALSGR. 298 Suche as writeth in
ryme use in this thyng their lyberte. 1590 SHAKES. Com. Err. II. i. 7
A man is Master of his libertie. 1690 LOCKE Hum. Und. II. xxi. §8. 118
The Idea of Liberty is the Idea of a Power in any Agent to do or
forbear any particular Action. 1781 COWPER Truth 195 Thought, word,
and deed, his liberty evince, His freedom is the freedom of a prince.
1831 E. J. TRELAWNY Adv. Younger Son I. 45 I've liberty nownot under
the pennantdo as I like. 1849 RUSKIN Sev. Lamps vii. §1. 184 If there
be any one principle..more sternly than another imprinted on every
atom of the visible creation, that principle is not Liberty but Law.
1872 DE MORGAN Budget Paradoxes 464 We have a glorious liberty in
England of owning neither dictionary, grammar nor spelling-book. 1873
HAMERTON Intell. Life X. vii. (1876) 372 The liberty of the wild bee.

    b. Philos. The condition of being free from the control of fate or
necessity; = FREEDOM 5.
  (Now chiefly in expressed antithesis to necessity; the phrase
liberty of the will occurs, but freedom is more common in this
connexion.)

1538 STARKEY England I. ii. 30 Many men vtturly take away the lyberty
of wyl. 1654 HOBBES (title) Of Libertie and Necessitie. 1687 MIEGE Gt.
Fr. Dict. II, Liberty of Will, franc Arbitre. 1814 CARY Dante, Par. v.
21 Supreme of gifts which God..gave Of his free bounty..Was liberty of
will. 1868 BAIN Ment. & Mor. Sci. IV. xi. (chapter-heading), Liberty
and Necessity. Ibid. 400 These terms are supposed to involve..the
Liberty of the Will.

    4. a. Free opportunity, range, or scope to do or of doing
something; hence, leave, permission.

14.. Epyphanye in Tundale's Vis. (1843) 112 For they in hart rejoysed
not a lyte On hym to loke that they have lybarte. c1430 LYDG. Reason &
Sens. (E.E.T.S.) 131 A lady callyd Curtesy, whiche graunted him
lyberte to goo wher him lyst. 1463 Bury Wills (Camden) 22, I will she
haue hire liberte at alle leffull tymes to go in to the chapell. 1526
TINDALE Acts xxvii. 3 Iulius..gave him liberte to goo vnto his
frendes. 1530 PALSGR. 239/1 Lybertie leave, faculté, liberté. 1590
SHAKES. Com. Err. V. i. 53 Youthfull men, Who giue their eies the
liberty of gazing. 1604 Oth. II. ii. 10 There is full libertie of
Feasting from this present houre. 1642 SIR T. BROWNE Relig. Med. I.
(1896) 26 There is no liberty for causes to operate in a loose and
stragling way. 1671 MILTON P.R. I. 365, I enjoy Large liberty to round
this Globe of Earth. 1749 FIELDING Tom Jones XVI. viii, You have my
full liberty to publish them. 1796 BP. WATSON Apol. Bible (ed. 2) 190
You have the liberty of doing so. 1833 H. MARTINEAU Briery Creek i. 4
Bid him come in and wait for liberty to talk. 1840 DICKENS Barn. Rudge
iii, Have they no liberty, no will, no right to speak?

    b. Unrestricted use of, or access to, permission to go anywhere
within the limits of: chiefly in phr. to have the liberty of. (Cf.
FREEDOM 13b.) ?Obs.

1603 SHAKES. Meas. for M. IV. ii. 156 He hath euermore had the liberty
of the prison. 1621 H. ELSING Debates Ho. Lords (Camden) 22 He desyres
not to be at libertye, but to have the libertye of the house. 1630
WADSWORTH Pilgr. viii. 90, I was freed from the Cage..and had the
liberty of the dungeon. 1719 DE FOE Crusoe I. viii. (1840) 133, I
might be more happy in this Solitary Condition, than I should have
been in a Liberty of Society. 1724 Mem. Cavalier (1840) 270 They
allowed him the liberty of the town. 1796 JANE AUSTEN Pride & Prej.
iv. (1813) 12 He was now provided with a good house and the liberty of
a manor.

    c. Naut. Leave of absence. (Cf. liberty man in 10.)

1758 J. BLAKE Plan Mar. Syst. 12 They shall be allowed to complete the
remainder of the aforesaid time of liberty. Ibid. 13 The seaman ashore
on liberty. 1867 SMYTH Sailor's Word-bk., Breaking liberty, not
returning at the appointed time.

    5. a. Unrestrained action, conduct, or expression; freedom of
behaviour or speech, beyond what is granted or recognized as proper;
licence. (Occas. personified.) Now only in particularized sense: An
instance of freedom, an overstepping or setting aside of rules; a
licence.

1558 KNOX First Blast (Arb.) 7 John the Baptist, whom Herode..had
beheaded for the libertie of his tonge. 1562 FILLS Stat. Geneva Ep.
Ded. *ivb, They charge vs..with libertie and licenciousnesse. 1590
SHAKES. Com. Err. I. ii. 102 Nimble Iuglers..Disguised Cheaters,
prating Mountebankes; And manie such like liberties of sinne. 1603
Meas. for M. I. iii. 29 Libertie plucks Iustice by the nose. 1638
BAKER tr. Balzac's Lett. (vol. III) 124 These liberties are not
sufferable in the freest conversations, they draw on other more
dangerous liberties. 1670 COTTON Espernon I. IV. 146 A Captain that
very well understood..the pest of great Bodies to be sloath and
liberty, which debauch Souldiers from their Duty. 1704 SWIFT T. Tub
Postscr., Wks. 1760 I. p. xvii, Using no other liberties, besides that
of expunging certain passages. 1709 FELTON Classics (1718) 18 The Poem
[Æneid] is still more Wonderful, since without the Liberty of the
Grecian Poets, the Diction is so Great and Noble, so Clear..that
[etc.]. 1727 GAY Begg. Op. I. vii, If I allow captain Macheath some
trifling liberties. 1868 FREEMAN Norm. Conq. (1876) II. vii. 119 Those
who may venture on liberties with the men of fargone times which to
the historian are forbidden. 1881 JOWETT Thucyd. I. Introd. 11
Thucydides has rarely..allowed himself liberties not to be found
somewhere in other writers.

    b. Phr. to take the liberty to do or of doing something: to go so
far beyond the bounds of civility or propriety, be so presumptuous as
to (etc.). to take liberties (or a liberty): to be unduly or
improperly familiar (with a person; sometimes euphemistic); to use
freedom in dealing with (rules, facts, etc.).

1625 BACON Ess., Friendship (Arb.) 169 Mæcenas took the liberty to
tell him that [etc.]. 1704 N. N. tr. Boccalini's Advts. fr. Parnassus
II. 127 Catullus..took the Liberty to call the Nobleman Bastard. 1719
DE FOE Crusoe II. x. (1840) 220 The poor man had taken liberty with a
wench. 1739 Wks. of Learned I. 83 note, Mr. Dryden..takes great
Liberties with the Authors he translates. 1749 Power Pros. Numbers 71
The first Foot of the first Line..is defective by two short Syllables;
which is a Liberty seldom taken. 1749 J. CLELAND Mem. Woman Pleasure
I. 219, I had seen him taking the last liberties with my
servant-wench. 1818 COBBETT Pol. Reg. XXXIII. 101, I will..take the
liberty to give them..my opinion. 1824 MRS. SHERWOOD Waste Not II. 9
Mayhap you have made a stolen march, and taken what they call thieves'
liberty. 1862 BORROW Wild Wales I. xii 124 The creature [sc. a cat]
soon began to take liberties, and in less than a week after my arrival
at the cottage, generally mounted on my back, when it saw me reading
or writing. 1883 GILMOUR Mongols xxiii. 286 He thought I was taking
some undue liberty with his dignity. 1924 A. A. MILNE When we were
very Young 57 Excuse me, Your Majesty, For taking of The liberty, But
marmalade is tasty, if It's very Thickly Spread. 1967 Listener 23 Feb.
271/1 A scene in which he is wrongfully accused of ‘taking a liberty’
with one of the female guests.

    6. As a feminine personification; with reference to the preceding
senses, esp. sense 2.

1508 DUNBAR Gold. Targe 175 Will, Wantonness, Renoun, and Libertee.
1632 MILTON L'Allegro 36 The Mountain Nymph, sweet Liberty. 1768
STERNE Sent. Journ. (1775) 87 (Hotel at Paris) Liberty..no tint of
words can spot thy snowy mantle. 1798 COLERIDGE France: An Ode 89 O
Liberty! with profitless endeavour Have I pursued thee. 1818 HALLAM
Mid. Ages (1872) I. 92 Liberty never wore a more unamiable countenance
than among these burghers, who abused the strength she gave them.

    7. Law.    a. A privilege or exceptional right granted to a
subject by the sovereign power; = FRANCHISE n. 2b.

[1166-7 Pipe Roll 13 Hen. II (1889) 107 Burgenses de Bedeford' reddunt
Computum de. xl. marcis pro Carta Regis habenda, ut sint in libertate
Burgensium de Oxineforde.] 1404 Rolls of Parlt. III. 549 Als ferre as
he may by the lawe of his land, or by his prerogatif, or libertee.
1414 Ibid. IV. 22 So as hit hath ever be thair liberte & fredom, that
thar sholde no Statut no Lawe be made oflasse than they yaf therto
their assent. 1557 [see FRANCHISE n. 2b]. 1612 DAVIES Why Ireland,
etc. (1787) 106 Then had the Lord of Meath the same royal liberty in
that territory. a1626 BACON Uses Com. Law (1635) 8 Many men of good
quality have attained by charter..within mannors of their owne liberty
of keeping law-dayes. 1647 FULLER Good Th. in Worse T. 13 A grant of
liberty from Queene Mary to Henry Ratcliffe. 1710 PRIDEAUX Orig.
Tithes iv 195 Grant to be held by inheritance and with perpetual
liberty. 1767 BLACKSTONE Comm. II. iii 31. 1848 WHARTON Law Lex. s.v.,
A liberty to hold pleas in a court of one's own.

    b. pl. (rarely collect. sing.) Privileges, immunities, or rights
enjoyed by prescription or by grant.

[1180 Mag. Rot. 26 Hen. II, Rot 56 in Madox Hist. Exchequer (1711) 273
Homines de Preston reddunt computum de C marcis, Pro habenda Carta
Regis, ut habeant Libertates quas Homines de Novo Castro habent.]
c1380 WYCLIF Wks. (1880) 162 e lawis & e libertes of holy chirche.
1467 in Eng. Gilds (1870) 392 That he be disfraunchised of his
libertees. 1587 FLEMING Contn. Holinshed III. 1491/2, I thought meet
to passe ouer the antiquitie of..Douer, with the liberties thereof.
1602 W. FULBECKE Pandectes 55 The Heluetians did bestow the liberties
of their citie vpon Lewis the eleuenth. 1607 SHAKES. Cor. II. iii. 223
They haue chose a Consull, that will from them take Their Liberties.
1669 MARVELL Corr. cxxix. Wks. 1872-5 II. 294 After long debate what
to do with the Lords in point of our Libertys now. 1855 PRESCOTT
Philip II, I. v. (1857) 76 The liberties of the commons were crushed
at the fatal battle of Villalar.

    c. Hence occas. a person's domain or property. The district over
which a person's or corporation's privilege extends. Also (in England
before 1850), a district within the limits of a county, but exempt
from the jurisdiction of the sheriff, and having a separate commission
of the peace. (See also quot. 1876.)
  liberty or liberties of a city: the district, extending beyond the
bounds of the city, which is subject to the control of the municipal
authority. liberties of a prison (esp. the Fleet and the Marshalsea in
London): the limits outside the prison, within which prisoners were
sometimes permitted to reside.

1455 Rolls of Parlt. V. 325/2 Within ye said Citee, and Libertee of
the same. 1510 in Vicary's Anat. (1888) 210 Commaundement gyven to the
Surgeons of this Citie, that they..dwell within the libertie of this
Citie. 1535 COVERDALE 1 Macc. x. 43 Who so euer they be that fle vnto
the temple at Ierusalem or within the liberties thereof [Vulg. in
omnibus finibus ejus]. 1596 SPENSER State Irel. Wks. (Globe) 623/1 To
distrayne the goodes of any Irish, being found within theyr libertye,
or but passing through theyr townes. 1659 RUSHW. Hist. Coll. I. 199
Within and without the Walls of the City of London, and in the
Liberties and Nine out Parishes. 1724 SWIFT Drapier's Lett. Wks. 1755
V. II. 128, I will begin the experiment in the liberty of St.
Patrick's. 1778 Eng. Gazetteer (ed. 2) s.v. Warwicksh., This
county..is divided into four hundreds and one liberty. 1787 Generous
Attachment I. 144 The worthy knight demanded..what she meant by
strolling into his liberty at that hour of the night. 1792 N. CHIPMAN
Rep. (1871) 11 Bond conditioned that J. a prisoner should not depart
the liberties of said prison. 1848 DICKENS Dombey iv, The offices of
Dombey and Son were within the liberties of the City of London, and
within hearing of Bow-Bells. 1876 DIGBY Real Prop. I. ii. §3. 52 When
a large district comprising several manors was held by a single lord
in whom was vested by grant or long usage the complete jurisdiction of
the hundred, the district was called a liberty or honour.

    8. liberty of the tongue (see quot.). So F. liberté.

1753 CHAMBERS Cycl. Supp. s.v, Liberty of the tongue, in the manege,
is a void space left in the middle of a bit, to give place to the
tongue of a horse, made by the bit's arching in the middle, and rising
towards the roof of the mouth... In forging the bit, care must be
taken not to make the liberty too high, or at least tickle the palate.

    9. Governed by at, forming advb. or predicative phrase.    a. at
one's liberty (later at liberty): at one's own choice, as one pleases,
‘ad libitum’.

1426 CARD. BEAUFORT in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. II. I. 102 Att his owen
fredam and libertee..for to mowe passe the See in parfourmyng of the
said avowe. 1426 LYDG. De Guil. Pilgr. 8386 Thow shalt no thyng
do..But at thyn owne lyberte. 1480 Bury Wills (Camden) 63 Wherof my
seyd chauntry priest to be one of them at his liberte. 1524 HEN. VIII
in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 220 To..were his bonet on his
hed..aswel in our presence as elleswhere, at his libertie. 1627 C.
LEVER Q. Eliz. Teares xlv. (Grosart) 80 Painefull to get, but lost at
libertie.

    b. at (a person's) liberty: in his power or at his disposal. Obs.

c1477 CAXTON Jason 111b, Yf I nowe had her at my liberte I sholde make
her to deye a cruell deth. 1542-3 Act 34 & 35 Hen. VIII, c. 27 §77 The
shireffe..maie awarde a Capias ad satisfaciendum..or elles a Fieri
fac. at libertie of the partie pursuant. 1547 Homilies I. Falling fr.
God II. (1859) 86 They take this for a great benefit of God, to have
all at their own liberty. 1642 tr. Perkins' Prof. Bk. v. §319. 141 It
is at the Libertie of the wife to have dower. 1698 NORRIS Pract. Disc.
IV. 303 'Tis at their Liberty whether they will do any Works of
Mercy..or not.

    c. at liberty (in early use at one's or one's own liberty, at all,
good, liberty): not in captivity or confinement; esp. in phr. to set
at liberty, to liberate, free. Also, free to act, move, think, etc.;
const. to with inf., occas. with clause.

c1430 LYDG. Compl. Bl. Knt. 661 Ye may togider speke What so ye liste,
at good libertee. 1470-85 MALORY Arthur VI. iii, Were I at my lyberte
as I was. 1485 CAXTON Pref. to Malory's Arthur 3 But for to..byleue
that al is trewe that is conteyned herin, ye be at your lyberte. 1489
Faytes of A. III. viii. 184 A man is not atte hys owne lyberte that
byndeth hym self to another. 1526 TINDALE Luke iv. 18 Frely to sett
att liberte them that are brused. 1585 C. FETHERSTONE Calvin on Acts
i. 5 The Lord openeth the prison for them that they may be at libertie
to fulfil their function. 1594 SHAKES. Rich. III, I. i. 133 More
pitty, that the Eagles should be mew'd, Whiles Kites and Buzzards play
at liberty. 1611 BIBLE Transl. Pref. 11 They..had rather haue their
iudgements at libertie in differences of readings, then to be
captiuated to one. 1692 R. L'ESTRANGE Fables, Life Æsop (1708) 2 The
Reader is at Liberty what to Believe and what Not. 1709 STEELE Tatler
No. 109 1 Some particular Matters, which I am not at Liberty to
report. 1758 REID tr. Macquer's Chem. I. 253 Its Acid being set at
liberty. 1857 TROLLOPE Three Clerks xlv, ‘If you knew it was
coming..why didn't you tell a chap?’ ‘I was not at liberty’, said Mr.
Snape, looking very wise. 1866 J. MARTINEAU Ess. I. 26 He is quite at
liberty to think so. 1882 ALEXANDER in Watson Life Candlish xv. 174
His right arm was at liberty. 1886 ‘HUGH CONWAY’ Living or Dead viii,
You are at perfect liberty to repeat my words to him.

    d. at liberty: (of persons or things) unoccupied, disengaged.

1847 C. BRONTË J. Eyre v. I. 75, I dressed as well as I could for
shivering, and washed when there was a basin at liberty. 1853 MRS.
GASKELL Cranford i. 4, I have no doubt they will call: so be at
liberty after twelve. 1931 Amer. Mercury Nov. 351/1 At liberty, out of
work. 1933 P. GODFREY Back-Stage v. 70 It takes many years before the
superseded actors and actresses will admit to themselves that the
professional terms ‘at liberty’ and ‘disengaged’ are no longer
applicable to them in a temporary sense.

    10. attrib. and Comb., as liberty-monger; liberty-loving, -taking
adjs.; liberty act, a circus act performed by liberty horses; liberty
boat Naut., a boat carrying liberty men; liberty bodice, a
close-fitting under-bodice; liberty bond, one of the interest-bearing
bonds of the ‘Liberty’ loans issued by the U.S. government in 1917-18;
liberty boy, (a) Anglo-Irish (see quot. 1765 and cf. liberty-corps);
(b) transf. or allusive, a noisy zealot for liberty; (c) U.S. a
supporter of a freedom movement; (d) (see quot. 1826); (e) (see quot.
1842); liberty cabbage U.S., sauerkraut; liberty cap = cap of liberty
(see CAP n.1 4f); liberty corps (see quot.); liberty-day Naut., a day
on which part of a ship's crew are allowed to go ashore; liberty hall
(see HALL n.1 11); liberty horse (see quot. 1946); liberty-liquor,
‘spirits formerly allowed to be purchased when seamen had visitors;
now forbidden’ (Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 1867); Liberty-loan, one of
the four issues of liberty bonds; liberty man Naut., a sailor having
leave to go ashore; liberty-party U.S. Hist., a political party which
made the abolition of slavery its leading principle; liberty-pole, a
tall mast or staff with a Phrygian cap or other symbol of liberty on
the top; liberty post, a post marking the boundary of the Liberties of
the City of London; liberty (or Liberty) ship, a type of merchant
vessel built in the United States by rapid mass-production methods
during the 1939-45 war; also ellipt. Liberty; liberty-ticket Naut., ‘a
document specifying the date and extent of the leave granted to a
seaman or marine proceeding on his private affairs’ (Smyth); liberty
tree = tree of liberty; liberty-wife, a mistress.

1933 P. GODFREY Back-Stage xvii. 214 The training of a team of
spirited thoroughbreds for the ‘*Liberty’ or ‘Haute École’ acts.
________________________________
1837 United Service Jrnl. Aug. 474 They knew..that the *liberty-boat
would be on shore for them at that hour. 1901 Daily Chron. 16 Nov. 4/3
The destroyer..ran down a liberty boat..with the loss of three lives.
1956 A. THORNE Baby & Battleship I. 33 They..had no intention of
coming back until it was nearly time to catch the Liberty Boat.
________________________________
1916 Child May 433/1 The ‘Liberty Bodice’ Factory, of Market
Harborough, have made a speciality of the ‘*Liberty Bodice’... The
bodice is made of durable but soft and elastic material, and is porous
and pliable and arranged with well-placed straps carried over the
shoulders to take the weight of underclothes and stand the pull of
suspenders. 1932 S. GIBBONS Cold Comfort Farm xiv. 193 Give me my
liberty bodice. 1968 J. IRONSIDE Fashion Alphabet 70 Liberty bodice,
bodice to the waist,..worn by girls. The bodice has built-up shoulders
and buttons at front or back. It..has gone out of fashion for all but
very young children. 1973 Radio Times 18 Jan. 18/1 (Advt.), The wiser
you are, the more you appreciate the comfort of a liberty bodice.
________________________________
1918 in WEBSTER Add., *Liberty bond. 1919 E. E. CUMMINGS Let. 25 Nov.
(1969) 64 Very nice of you all to include me in the liberty bond
donation. 1922 Encycl. Brit. XXXI. 760/2 The Liberty Bonds and Victory
Notes were issued under authority of the Acts of Congress approved
April 24 1917, Sept. 24 1917, [etc.]. 1928 Liberty bond [see DRIVE n.
1g].
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1760 FOOTE Minor Introd., Wks. 1799 I. 229 A Dublin mechanic..heading
the *liberty-boys in a skirmish on Ormond Quay. 1765 Ann Reg. 120
Several soldiers and the liberty boys (that is, journeymen weavers
living in the earl of Meath's liberties adjoining to the city) broke
open Newgate. 1774 in C. F. Aspinall-Oglander Admiral's Widow (1942)
51 They are distinguished here by the name of Tories, as the Liberty
Boysthe tarring feathery gentryare by the title of Whigs. 1781 S.
PETERS Gen. Hist. Connecticut 393 The liberty boys were..honoured with
the presence of ministers, deacons [etc.]. 1788 V. KNOX Winter Even.
I. II. xvii. 223 A Greek political ballad, which used to be sung by
the Athenian liberty-boys. 1826 New Monthly Mag. II. 79 While the
paying spectator..applauded, when his feelings prompted, the liberty
boy [sc. free-ticket holder].., if he clapped at all, would clap with
gloved hands. 1827 Blackw. Mag. XXII. 593 Enacting the part of
liberty-boys. 1842 N.Z. Gaz. II. 112 People from ships called ‘liberty
boys’ are only allowed to come on shore on Sundays for recreation.
1858 Texas Almanac 1859 33 The Liberty boys..joined Austin's Company.
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1927 Haldeman-Julius Q. July-Sept. 7/2 Here we were..calling
sauerkraut ‘*Liberty Cabbage’. 1967 Listener 18 May 642/1 In America
it was more than a restaurant owner's life was worth to keep
sauerkraut on the menu: it was changed to liberty cabbage.
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1803 Lit. Mag. (Philadelphia) Dec. 172 A liberty pole..decorated with
party coloured flags and *liberty caps. 1835 Mechanics' Mag. 10 Jan.
256/2 It is wholly at variance with classic authority to place the
Pileus or Liberty Cap on the head of the figure representing Liberty.
1843 L. M. CHILD Lett. from N.Y. xl. 274 This age and country, in
which liberty-caps abound.
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1887 LECKY Eng. in 18th C. VI 360 The ‘*Liberty’ corps of the
volunteersso called because it was recruited in the Earl of Meath's
liberties.
________________________________
1840 R. H. DANA Bef. Mast xii. 27 Sunday..is the *liberty-day among merchantmen.
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1930 E. SMITH Red Wagon xxvii 225 The time came to exhibit his beloved
*liberty horses, four dapple-grey cobs exactly resembling painted
rocking-horses. 1946 M. C. SELF Horseman's Encycl. 264 Liberty horses
are those which perform in the circus without a rider. 1952 N.
STREATFEILD Aunt Clara 103 The comedy horse turn was coming to an end,
the liberty horses would follow. 1972 New Statesman 7 Jan. 14/2 Yasmin
Smart is the only lady ring-master in the world... Since the age of 10
she has been learning to train Liberty horses.
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1917 ADE Let. 12 June (1973) 64 We find it hard work to induce the
farmers and other small investors to take the *Liberty Loan bonds.
1921 E. L. BOGART War Costs 208 The First Liberty Loan Act of April
24, 1917, authorized a bond issue of $2,000,000,000 and advances to
allies of $3,000,000,000. 1922 B. J. HENDRICK Life & Lett. W. H. Page
II. xxii. 273 The American Government finally paid this over-draft out
of the proceeds of the first Liberty Loan.
________________________________
1897 Daily News 23 Jan. 7/2 The *liberty-loving elements of our town.
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1758 J. BLAKE Plan Mar. Syst. 18 Such *liberty-men..shall..forfeit all
benefit from their liberty ticket. c1860 H. STUART Seaman's Catech. 9
Pinnaces are the boats usually selected for..carrying working parties,
liberty men, &c. 1909 Daily Chron. 25 Feb. 1/6 The packet boats which
convey the ‘liberty’ men to Chatham after the day's routine. 1964 R.
BRADDON Year Angry Rabbit xii. 110 A few hundred liberty men on each
side.., their flights delayed by bad weather, returned to the firing
line too late.
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1702 DE FOE Test. Ch. Eng. Loyalty in Somers Tracts 4th Collect.
(1751) III. 14 Stubborn, refractory, *Liberty-Mongers. 1828 SYD. SMITH
Mem. (1855) II. 290 Without making ourselves the liberty-mongers of
all Europe.
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1843 WHITTIER What is Slavery? Prose Wks. 1889 III. 105 It is against
this system..that the *Liberty Party is, for the present, directing
all its efforts.
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1775-83 THACHER Mil. Jrnl. (1823) 22 *Liberty poles were erected in
almost every town and villge..under which the tory is compelled to
sign a recantation. 1789 GOUV. MORRIS in Sparks Life & Writ. (1832)
II. 70 The soldiers were then paraded in triumph to the Palais Royal,
which is now the liberty pole of this city.
________________________________
1644 NYE Gunnery (1670) 50 The *liberty post standing amongst the
desolate ruines of Fore-gate street.
________________________________
1941 Marine Digest 28 June 8/2 The emergency cargo ships, known as the
EC-2 type, *Liberty ships, will have an overall length of about 425
feet, width 57 feet, approximately 10,000 deadweight tons, and will be
oil-burning. 1942 W. S. CHURCHILL End of Beginning (1943) 183 The
launching of the Patrick Henry, the first Liberty ship. 1945 Seafarers
Log 3/2 The first of the Liberties to be scrapped, the Banvard was
delivered into service on April 8, 1943. 1961 W. VAUGHAN-THOMAS Anzio
iv. 47 DUKWs were already chugging in from the big Liberty ships lying
out to sea. 1966 C. R. TOTTLE Sci. Engin. Materials vii. 170 Some of
the wartime ‘liberty’ ships fractured when lying in port, without
operational loads.
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1836 Going to Service xiii. 161 *Liberty-taking men-servants. 1758
*Liberty ticket [see quot. for liberty man].
________________________________
1776 A. ADAMS in J. Adams' Fam. Lett. (1876) 180, I..ventured just as
far as the stump of *Liberty Tree.
________________________________
1825 Sweet William & Yng. Colonel ii. in Child Ballads II. 291/1 I'll
keep her for my *liberty-wife.
________________________________

    Hence libertyless a., deprived of liberty.

1643 T. CASE Serm. in Kerr Covt. & Covenanters (1895) 248 Thy
sword..has made many a faithful minister libertyless.

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