- 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. Liberation is mid-15c.; liberation theology (1969) translates Sp. teologia de la liberación, coined 1968 by Peruvian priest Gustavo Gutiérrez.