liberal arts

American  

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.

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liberal arts British  

plural noun

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

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liberal arts ¹ Cultural  

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.

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liberal arts ² Cultural  

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.

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Etymology

Origin of liberal arts

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

Example Sentences

He advised students in liberal arts to major in law, accounting, or Chinese literature, reasoning that these fields most commonly led to recruitment after civil service exams.

From BBC • Mar. 27, 2026

To recommit to ideals that have made a strong liberal arts education foundational to American democracy: critical thinking, dialogue, pluralism, the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 21, 2026

I am going to have to pick on liberal arts majors.

From Barron's • Feb. 19, 2026

The promise of full financial-need coverage is why Perez, who grew up in Guatemala and immigrated to the U.S. three years ago, is aiming to attend a private liberal arts college.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 29, 2025

Its leaders founded a black college—which became the first publicly supported liberal arts college for blacks in the United States.

From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson

Related Words

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