"freedom, liberty" in seven languages
Meaningfreedom, liberty
Spanish
/libeɾˈtad/
fem.learned
French
/libɛʁte/
fem.learned
Italian
/liberˈta/
fem.learned
plural: libertà
Portuguese
/libehˈdadʒi/
fem.learned
Romanian
/liberˈtate/
fem.learned
Catalan
/ʎibərˈtat/
fem.learned
Catalan turns initial l- into ll- even in learned words.
English
/ˈfɹidəm/
native English · Old English frēodōm
The Latin ancestor
LĪBERTĀTEM‘the status of a free person’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
The -TĀTEM decoder at its plainest: -tad, -té, -tà, English -ty. Spot one, and you can make the other three (Liberté, égalité, fraternité).
English relatives: liberty, liberal, liberate
Sound laws at work
Learn it
In a sentence
- esLa libertad de expresión.
- frLa liberté d'expression.
- itLa libertà di espressione.
- ptLiberdade de expressão.
- roLibertatea de exprimare.
- caLa llibertat d'expressió.
- enFreedom of speech.
The Latin family
LĪBER-· free
LĪBERUM 'free' was so tied to law and the Church that in Spanish, French and Italian the adjective survives only in learned or semi-learned shapes (libre, libre, libero); Portuguese livre and Catalan lliure show more wear, and Romanian liber was taken from Latin. The verb LĪBERĀRE did run the popular course, turning into Spanish librar, Portuguese livrar, Catalan lliurar and French livrer 'to deliver' — the learned liberar, libérer is its doublet. Not to be confused with LIBRUM 'book' (short i, originally 'inner bark').
LĪBERUMfree
eslibrefrlibreitliberoptlivrerolibercalliure
LĪBERTĀTEMfreedom
eslibertadfrlibertéitlibertàptliberdaderolibertatecallibertatenliberty
LĪBERĀREto free; (legal) to hand over
eslibrarfrlivrerptlivrarcalliurarendeliver
LĪBERĀREto set free (learned)
esliberarfrlibéreritliberareptliberarroeliberaenliberate
LĪBERĀLEMbefitting a free man; generous
esliberalfrlibéralitliberaleptliberalroliberalcaliberalenliberal