Online Etymology Dictionary

liberal (adj.): late 14c., from O.Fr. liberal "befitting free men, noble, generous," from L. liberalis "noble, generous," lit. "pertaining to a free man," from liber "free," from PIE base *leudheros (cf. Gk. eleutheros "free"), probably originally "belonging to the people" (though the precise semantic development is obscure), from *leudho- "people" (cf. O.C.S. ljudu, Lith. liaudis, O.E. leod, Ger. Leute "nation, people"). Earliest reference in English is to the liberal arts. Sense of "free in bestowing" is from late 14c. With a meaning "free from restraint in speech or action" (late 15c.) liberal was used 16c.-17c. as a term of reproach. It revived in a positive sense in the Enlightenment, with a meaning "free from prejudice, tolerant," which emerged 1776-88. Purely in reference to political opinion, "tending in favor of freedom and democracy" it dates from c.1801, from Fr. libéral, originally applied in English by its opponents (often in French form and with suggestions of foreign lawlessness) to the party favorable to individual political freedoms. But also (especially in U.S. politics) tending to mean "favorable to government action to effect social change," which seems at times to draw more from the religious sense of "free from prejudice in favor of traditional opinions and established institutions" (and thus open to new ideas and plans of reform), which dates from 1823.
"Conservative, n. A statesman who is enamored of existing evils, as distinguished from the Liberal, who wishes to replace them with others." [Ambrose Bierce, "Devil's Dictionary," 1911]
The noun meaning "member of the Liberal party of Great Britain" is from 1820.
liberal arts: late 14c., translating L. artes liberales; the seven attainments directed to intellectual enlargement, not immediate practical purpose, and thus deemed worthy of a free man (liberal in this sense is opposed to servile or mechanical). They were divided into the trivium -- grammar, logic, rhetoric -- and the quadrivium -- arithmetic, geometry, music, astronomy.
liberalization: 1835; see liberal.
liberalism: 1819, from liberal + -ism.
liberality: c.1300, from O.Fr. liberalité (13c.), from L. liberalitatem, noun of quality from liberalis (see liberal).
neo-conservative: also neoconservative; used in the modern sense by 1979:
"My Republican vote [in the 1972 presidential election] produced little shock waves in the New York intellectual community. It didn't take long - a year or two - for the socialist writer Michael Harrington to come up with the term "neoconservative" to describe a renegade liberal like myself. To the chagrin of some of my friends, I decided to accept that term; there was no point calling myself a liberal when no one else did." [Irving Kristol, "Forty Good Years," "The Public Interest," Spring 2005]
The term is attested from 1960, but it originally often was applied to Russell Kirk and his followers, who would be philosophically opposed to the modern neocons.
progressive (adj.): 1607, "characterized by advancement" (in action, character, etc.), from progress (q.v.). Of taxation, from 1889; of jazz, from 1947. Meaning "characterized by striving for change and innovation, avant-garde, liberal" is from 1908; the noun in this sense is first attested 1865.
unbounded: 1598, "not limited in extent," from un- (1) "not" + pp. of verb form of bound (n.). Sense of "generous, profuse, liberal" is recorded from 1704.
trivium: 1804, from M.L., "grammar, rhetoric, and logic," first three of the seven liberal arts in the Middle Ages, considered less important than arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music. From L. trivium "place where three roads meet" (see trivial).
permissive: c.1600, "allowing to pass through," from O.Fr. permissif, from L. permissus (see permission). In sense of "tolerant, liberal" it is first recorded 1956; by 1966 it had definite overtones of sexual freedom.
charitable: mid-14c., in ref. to the Christian virtue, from O.Fr. charitable (13c.), from charité (see charity). Meaning "liberal in treatment of the poor" is from c.1400; that of "inclined to impute favorable motives to others" is from 1620s.
eleutherian: 1623, from Gk. eleutherios "like a free man, noble-minded, frank, liberal," lit. "freeing, delivering, releaser," title of Zeus as protector of political freedom, from eleutheria "freedom," from PIE *leu-dheros.
liberate: 1620s, from L. liberatus, pp. of liberare "set free," from liber "free" (see liberal). Meaning "to free an occupied territory from the enemy" (often used ironically) is from 1944.
philistine: "person deficient in liberal culture," 1827, originally in Carlyle, popularized by him and Matthew Arnold, from Ger. Philister "enemy of God's word," lit. "Philistine," inhabitants of a Biblical land, neighbors (and enemies) of Israel (see Philistine). Popularized in Ger. student slang (supposedly first in Jena, late 17c.) as a contemptuous term for "townies," and hence, by extension, "any uncultured person." Philistine had been used in a humorous fig. sense of "the enemy" in Eng. from c.1600.
large: late 12c., "bountiful," from O.Fr. large "broad, wide," from L. largus "abundant, copious, plentiful, liberal," of unknown origin. Main modern meaning "extensive, big" emerged c.1300. An older sense of "liberated, free" is preserved in at large (late 14c.). Adj. phrase larger-than-life first attested 1937 (bigger than life is from 1640s).
munificence: early 15c., from M.Fr. munificence, from L. munificentia, from comp. stem of munificus "generous, bountiful, liberal," lit. "present-making," from munus (gen. muneris) "gift or service, duty, office" (see municipal) + unstressed stem of facere "to do" (see factitious).
trivial: early 15c., "of the trivium," from M.L. trivialis, from trivium "first three of the seven liberal arts," from L., lit. "place where three roads meet," from tri- "three" + via "road." The basic notion is of "that which may be found anywhere, commonplace, vulgar." The meaning "ordinary" (1580s) and "insignificant" (1590s) were in L. trivialis "commonplace, vulgar," originally "of or belonging to the crossroads." The verb trivialize is attested from 1846.
libertine: late 14c., "an emancipated slave," from L. libertinus "member of a class of freedmen," from libertus "one's freedmen," from liber "free" (see liberal). Sense of "freethinker" is first recorded 1560s, from Fr. libertin (1540s) originally the name given to certain Protestant sects in France and the Low Countries. Meaning "dissolute or licentious person" first recorded 1590s; the darkening of meaning being perhaps due to misunderstanding of L. libertinus in Acts vi.9.
radical: late 14c. (adj.), in a medieval philosophical sense, from L.L. radicalis "of or having roots," from L. radix (gen. radicis) "root" (see radish). Meaning "going to the origin, essential" is from 1650s. Political sense of "reformist" (via notion of "change from the roots") is first recorded 1802 (n.), 1820 (adj.), of the extreme section of the British Liberal party (radical reform had been a current phrase since 1786); meaning "unconventional" is from 1921. U.S. youth slang use is from 1983, from 1970s surfer slang meaning "at the limits of control." Radical chic is attested from 1970.
encyclopedia: 1530s, "course of construction," thought to be a false reading by L. authors of Gk. enkyklios paideia taken as "general education," but lit. "training in a circle," the essentials of a liberal education, from enkyklios "circular," also "general" (from en- "in" + kyklos "circle") + paideia "education, child-rearing," from pais (gen. paidos) "child" (see pedo-). Modern sense of "reference work arranged alphabetically" is from 1640s, often applied specifically to the French "Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des Sciences, des Arts, et des Métiers" (1751-65).
limousine: 1902, "enclosed automobile with open driver's seat," from Fr. limousine, from Limousin, region in central France, originally an adj. referring to its chief city, Limoges, from L. Lemovices, name of a people who lived near there, perhaps named in ref. to their elm spears or bows. The Latin adjective form of the name, Lemovicinus, is the source of Fr. Limousin. Modern automobile meaning evolved from perceived similarity of the car's profile to a type of hood worn by the inhabitants of that province. Since 1930s, synonymous in Amer.Eng. with "luxury car;" applied from 1972 to vehicles that take people to and from large airports. Limousine liberal first attested 1969.
liberty: late 14c., from O.Fr. liberté "freedom," from L. libertatem (nom. libertas) "freedom, condition of a freeman," from liber "free" (see liberal)
"The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure it is right." [Learned Hand, 1944]
Nautical sense of "leave of absence" is from 1758. To take liberties "go beyond the bounds of propriety" is from 1625. Sense of "privileges" led to sense of "a person's private land" (mid-15c.), which yielded sense in 18c. England and America of "a district within a county but having its own justice of the peace," and also "a district adjacent to a city and in some degree under its municipal jurisdiction" (e.g. Northern Liberties of Philadelphia).
open (adj.): O.E. open "not closed down, raised up" (of doors, gates, etc.), also "uncovered, bare; plain, evident," from P.Gmc. *upana, lit. "put or set up" (cf. O.N. opinn, Swed. öppen, Dan. aaben, O.Fris. epen, O.H.G. offan "open"), from PIE *upo "up from under, over" (cf. L. sub, Gk. hypo; see sub-). Related to up, and throughout Gmc. the word has the appearance of a pp. of *up (v.), but no such verb has been found. The source of words for "open" in many I.E. languages seems to be an opposite of the word for "closed, shut" (e.g. Goth. uslukan). Of shops, etc., "available for business," it dates from 1824. Transf. sense of "candid" is attested from 1513. The verb was O.E. openian, but etymology suggests the adj. was older. Open up "cease to be secretive" is from 1921. The noun meaning "public knowledge" (esp. in out in the open) is attested from 1942; the sense of "an open competition" is from 1926, originally in a golf context. Open-handed "liberal, generous" is from 1601. Open door in ref. to international trading policies is attested from 1856. Open season is first recorded 1896, of game; and figuratively 1914 of persons. Open book in the fig. sense of "person easy to understand" is from 1853. Open house "hospitality for all visitors" is first recorded 1824. Open-and-shut "simple, straightforward" first recorded 1841 in New Orleans. Open marriage, one in which the partners sleep with whomever they please, is from 1972. Open road (1817, Amer.Eng.) originally meant a public one; romanticized sense of "traveling as an expression of personal freedom" first recorded 1856, in Whitman.
art (n.): early 13c., "skill as a result of learning or practice," from O.Fr. art, from L. artem (nom. ars) "art, skill, craft," from PIE *ar-ti- (cf. Skt. rtih "manner, mode;" Gk. arti "just," artios "complete;" Armenian arnam "make;" Ger. art "manner, mode"), from base *ar- "fit together, join" (see arm (1)). In M.E. usually with sense of "skill in scholarship and learning" (c.1300), especially in the seven sciences, or liberal arts. This sense remains in Bachelor of Arts, etc. Meaning "human workmanship" (as opposed to nature) is from late 14c. Sense of "cunning and trickery" first attested c.1600. Meaning "skill in creative arts" is first recorded 1620; esp. of painting, sculpture, etc., from 1660s. Broader sense of the word remains in artless (1580s). As an adj. meaning "produced with conscious artistry (as opposed to popular or folk) it is attested from 1890, possibly from infl. of Ger. kunstlied "art song" (cf. art film, 1960; art rock, c.1970). Fine arts, "those which appeal to the mind and the imagination" first recorded 1767. Expression art for art's sake (1836) translates Fr. l'art pour l'art. First record of art critic is from 1865. Arts and crafts "decorative design and handcraft" first attested in the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society, founded in London, 1888.
"Supreme art is a traditional statement of certain heroic and religious truths, passed on from age to age, modified by individual genius, but never abandoned. The revolt of individualism came because the tradition had become degraded, or rather because a spurious copy had been accepted in its stead." [William Butler Yeats]