liberal arts

plural noun

1. the academic course of instruction at a college intended to provide general knowledge and comprising the arts, humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences, as opposed to professional or technical subjects.
2. (during the Middle Ages) studies comprising the quadrivium and trivium, including arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, music, grammar, rhetoric, and logic.

liberal arts

plural noun

1. the fine arts, humanities, sociology, languages, and literature Often shortened toarts

liberal arts

¹

1. The areas of learning that cultivate general intellectual ability rather than technical or professional skills. The term liberal arts is often used as a synonym for humanities, although the liberal arts also include the sciences. The word liberal comes from the Latin liberalis , meaning suitable for a free man, as opposed to a slave.

liberal arts

²

1. The areas of learning that cultivate general intellectual ability rather than technical or professional skills. Liberal arts is often used as a synonym for humanities, because literature, languages, history, and philosophy are often considered the primary subjects of the liberal arts. The term liberal arts originally meant arts suitable for free people ( libri in Latin ) but not for slaves.

Word History and Origins

Origin of liberal arts¹

First recorded in 1745–55; translation of Latin artēs līberālēs “works befitting a free person,” literally, “skills of freedom”

Example Sentences

So again, your liberal arts and “perspective” type courses took an enormous hit.

From Salon

Still, she hopes a liberal arts education in the U.S. will allow her to study a wider range of subjects than she would in China.

From Los Angeles Times

Told in an elliptical style with novelistic chapters, the story follows Agnes, a literature grad student turned junior professor at a small liberal arts college who is struggling to move forward from a traumatic event.

From Los Angeles Times

He sounded at times like a revolutionary crossed with a left-wing liberal arts student.

From Salon

Priorities: I would increase interest in liberal arts.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• mathematics