Liberal

The word liberal, derived from the Latin liber ("free") has several senses. Generally speaking - and with the exception of the phrase liberal arts, where it means "studies that are liberating to the mind" - the liberal is that which departs from the traditional in some way, whereas the conservative is that which holds to it. When used as a noun with such qualifiers as "political," "radical," "moderate," and "classical," "liberal" indicates a person of a certain political stance. Additionally, it is used in theology to refer to a belief system which departs from the traditional views of the religion in which it is found. Liberal can also mean a good (large) amount of something, such as "Spread a liberal amount of woodchips on the garden."

Related topics

• Liberalism
• Political liberalism
• Classical liberalism
• New liberalism
• The liberal arts
• Liberal Party
• Liberal Democratic Party
• Liberal Judaism
• Liberal, Kansas
• Liberal, Missouri
• Libertarianism
• Liberal Unionist Party
• Limousine liberal
• Liberal theology
• Progressivism
• Liberal International

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Interestingly enough, the term 'Liberal' as used in Australia actually pertains to Conservatives, due to their Australian Liberal Party having typically Right-Wing views.