Standard Lemma guide

libertarianism

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /lɪbəˈtɛːɹɪənɪz(ə)m/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A political philosophy maintaining that all persons are the absolute owners of their own lives, and should be free to do whatever they wish with their persons or property, provided they allow others that same liberty.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: economics, government, human-sciences, philosophy, politics, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The doctrine of free will, as opposed to necessitarianism.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: human-sciences, philosophy, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

an ideological belief in freedom of thought and speech

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: political orientation, ideology, political theory

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English libertarian Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *-mós Ancient Greek -μός (-mós) Ancient Greek -ισμός (-ismós)der. English -ism English libertarianism From libertarian + -ism.

Across languages

Translations

37 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: llibertarisme — political philosophy
  • Chinese Mandarin: 自由意志主義 /自由意志主义 (zìyóu yìzhì zhǔyì) — political philosophy
  • Chinese Mandarin: 自由意志論 /自由意志论 (zìyóu yìzhì lùn) — political philosophy
  • Czech: libertarianismus — political philosophy
  • Danish: libertarianisme — political philosophy
  • Dutch: libertarisme — political philosophy
  • Esperanto: libertarianismo — political philosophy
  • Finnish: libertarismi — political philosophy
  • French: libertarianisme — political philosophy
  • French: libertarisme — political philosophy
  • Georgian: ლიბერტარიანიზმი (liberṭarianizmi) — political philosophy
  • German: Libertarismus — political philosophy
  • Hungarian: libertarianizmus — political philosophy
  • Hungarian: libertarizmus — political philosophy
  • Indonesian: libertarianisme — political philosophy
  • Indonesian: libertarisme — political philosophy
  • Interlingua: libertarianismo — political philosophy
  • Japanese: リバタリアニズム (ribatarianizumu) — political philosophy
  • Japanese: 完全自由主義 (kanzenjiyūshugi) — political philosophy
  • Japanese: 自由至上主義 (jiyūshijōshugi) — political philosophy
  • Japanese: 自由意志主義 (jiyūishishugi) — political philosophy
  • Korean: 자유지상주의 (jayujisangjuui) — political philosophy
  • Polish: libertarianizm — political philosophy
  • Portuguese: libertarianismo — political philosophy
  • Portuguese: libertarismo — political philosophy
  • Russian: либертари́зм (libertarízm) — political philosophy
  • Russian: либертариа́нство (libertariánstvo) — political philosophy
  • Serbo-Croatian: либертаријанизам — political philosophy
  • Serbo-Croatian: слободарство — political philosophy
  • Serbo-Croatian: libertarijanizam — political philosophy
  • Serbo-Croatian: slobodarstvo — political philosophy
  • Spanish: libertarismo — political philosophy
  • Swedish: nyliberalism — political philosophy
  • Swedish: libertarianism — political philosophy
  • Vietnamese: chủ nghĩa tự do — political philosophy
  • Vietnamese: chủ nghĩa tự do cá nhân — political philosophy
  • Vietnamese: chủ nghĩa tự do ý chí — political philosophy