liberation

[ lib-uh-rey-shuhn ]

noun

1. the act of liberating or the state of being liberated.
2. the act or fact of gaining equal rights or full social or economic opportunities for a particular group.

liberation

/ ˌlɪbəˈreɪʃən /

noun

1. a liberating or being liberated
2. the seeking of equal status or just treatment for or on behalf of any group believed to be discriminated against

   animal liberation

   women's liberation

Derived Forms

• ˌliberˈationist, nounadjective

Other Words From

• liber·ation·ist noun
• nonlib·er·ation noun
• postlib·er·ation adjective
• prelib·er·ation noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of liberation¹

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin līberātiōn-, stem of līberātiō; equivalent to liberate + -ion

Example Sentences

For example, José María Morelos, leader of the independence movement, emerged as a symbol of liberation in 1810.

From Washington Post

Researchers are at the beginning of what is expected to be a long effort, Jones wrote, including attempts to learn about the lives of the enslaved people in the Hopkins household, their lives after their liberation, and his views on abolition.

From Washington Post

After the liberation, the camp’s former prisoners hunted down their torturers with any weapons they could find, and American soldiers rarely tried to restrain them.

From Ozy

There’s this idea that we’re not ready for our own liberation, and I just reject that idea.

From Vox

Here, the event that sparks liberation is Moses’ witnessing of the oppression of the Israelites.

From No Straight News

Ironically, as pope, his championing of the poor has given Liberation Theology a new lease on life.

From The Daily Beast

Clearly the liberation of Gross took place in the context of what might be called a “grand bargain.”

From The Daily Beast

His deficiencies and self-doubts, amid his epochal mission of liberation, are precisely what make him interesting.

From The Daily Beast

Finally, I hope we can share concrete actions with those who attend, and want to help in the global LGBTI liberation struggle.

From The Daily Beast

Some believe that the promised liberation is a spiritual one.

From The Daily Beast

I leave Italy with a less sanguine hope of her speedy liberation than I brought into it.

From Project Gutenberg

Violent people had been pressing around John, and the cause of spiritual liberation had suffered.

From Project Gutenberg

But the very circumstances that facilitated the settling of the Spanish colonies were also likely to accelerate their liberation.

From Project Gutenberg

To remove a tyrant is an act of liberation, the giving of life and opportunity to an oppressed people.

From Project Gutenberg

"For the liberation of the king," originally levied during the captivity of King Ferdinand.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• abolition
• deliverance
• democracy
• emancipation
• salvation
• sovereignty