liberty
Absence of oppression
Liberty is freedom from constraint, oppression, or captivity.
Political liberty means citizens can act without undue government interference: civil liberties, religious liberty.
To be at liberty is to be free, especially from confinement, or to be permitted: I'm not at liberty to discuss that.
To take liberties is to act too freely or familiarly, sometimes with sexual overtones.
A liberty can also be a specific right or privilege granted by authority. (Capitalized Liberty often refers to the Statue of Liberty or appears as a proper name.)
Formal discontinuation of practice
- manumissionFormal freeing of enslaved
- slaveryOwnership of people
- bondageInvoluntary subjugation to another
- servitudeCompulsory labor under masters
unshackling · proclamation · antislavery · abolitionist · enfranchisement · civil rights · Juneteenth · Underground Railroad
Absence of constraint
- rightsJustified claims to freedoms
- constitutionInherent physical or structural makeup
- bill of rightsDocument listing protected liberties
- unalienableCannot be taken away
human rights · sovereignty · self-determination · self-governance · republic · democracy · citizenship · suffrage
Autonomous choice capacity
- determinismDoctrine of causal necessity
- agencyPower to act
- volitionCapacity for choice
- choiceAct of selecting
autonomy · existentialism · self-determination · moral responsibility · coercion · constraint · Locke · Mill
Supreme independent authority
- nationhoodStatus as independent country
- self-ruleGovernance without outside control
- decolonizationEnding imperial control
- secessionFormal withdrawal from union
devolution · republic · nonalignment · founding fathers · revolution · declaration · patriot · colony
abolition
Formal discontinuation of practice
- manumissionFormal freeing of enslaved
- slaveryOwnership of people
- bondageInvoluntary subjugation to another
servitude · unshackling · proclamation · antislavery · abolitionist · enfranchisement · civil rights · Juneteenth · Underground Railroad
freedom
Absence of constraint
- rightsJustified claims to freedoms
- constitutionInherent physical or structural makeup
- bill of rightsDocument listing protected liberties
unalienable · human rights · sovereignty · self-determination · self-governance · republic · democracy · citizenship · suffrage · voting
free will
Autonomous choice capacity
- determinismDoctrine of causal necessity
- agencyPower to act
- volitionCapacity for choice
choice · autonomy · existentialism · self-determination · moral responsibility · coercion · constraint · Locke · Mill
sovereignty
Supreme independent authority
- nationhoodStatus as independent country
- self-ruleGovernance without outside control
- decolonizationEnding imperial control
secession · devolution · republic · nonalignment · founding fathers · revolution · declaration · patriot · colony · autonomy
shore leave
Sailor's permitted absence ashore
- freedomfreedom of choice, freedom of will, free will, expression, speech
- independencefreedom, Independence Day, autonomy, sovereignty, self-reliance
- independence'autonomy, self-rule, sovereignty, freedom, self-reliance
- autonomyfreedom, self-rule, independence, self-determination, free will
- Founding Idealsfounding fathers, Declaration of Independence, natural rights, consent of governed, inalienable rights
- personal freedomfree will, agency, choice, autonomy, independence
libertytyranny
Oppressive, absolute governance
oppression · despotism · totalitarianism · authoritarianism · dictatorship
libertyimprisonment
Legal detention in jail
captivity · incarceration · confinement · detention · bondage
libertycoercion
Pressured compliance through threats
compulsion · constraint · duress · restraint · force
- Statue of LibertyIsland colossus near Manhattan
- Sons of LibertyRevolutionary-era resistance movement
- liberal artsNon-vocational higher education
- take libertiesAct beyond allowed bounds
- civil libertiesRights limiting government power
- at libertyFree from confinement
liberal, deliberate, liberate, liberation, liberated, deliberation, liberally, liberties, liberator