liberalism

C2+ Topic:People & Society

US /ˈlɪbərəˌlɪzəm/ UK /ˈlɪbərəlɪzəm/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a political philosophy favoring individual liberty, equality, and reform

Classical liberalism championed free markets and limited government.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a political philosophy... progressivismreformismindividualism

Opposites

conservatismauthoritarianismilliberalism

Word family

Related forms liberal liberality liberty liberate

Etymology

From liberal (Latin līberālis 'of freedom, befitting a free person', from līber 'free') + the suffix -ism.

līberālis Latin līber Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# liberalism

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈlɪbərəˌlɪzəm/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈlɪbərəlɪzəm/

## Meanings
1. a political philosophy favoring individual liberty, equality, and reform

## Examples
- Classical liberalism championed free markets and limited government.

## Synonyms
- progressivism
- reformism
- individualism

## Antonyms
- conservatism
- authoritarianism
- illiberalism

## Related Forms
- liberal
- liberality
- liberty
- liberate

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: līberālis
- Root: līber

## Etymology
From liberal (Latin līberālis 'of freedom, befitting a free person', from līber 'free') + the suffix -ism.

## AI Etymology
Liberalism comes from liberal (Latin līberālis 'of freedom, befitting a free person', from līber 'free') + the suffix -ism. The etymological trail includes Latin līberālis, Latin līber. The same word family includes liberal, liberality, liberty, liberate. Its current noun use means "a political philosophy favoring individual liberty, equality, and reform".

## Topics
- People & Society
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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