Definition of "liberal" in Anglais

adjective

(now rare outside set phrases) Pertaining to those arts and sciences the study of which is considered to provide general knowledge, as opposed to vocational/occupational, technical or mechanical training.
- He had a full education studying the liberal arts.
Generous; permitting liberty; willing to give unsparingly.
- He was liberal with his compliments.
Ample, abundant; generous in quantity.
- Add a liberal sprinkling of salt.
(obsolete) Unrestrained, licentious.
Widely open to new ideas, willing to depart from established opinions or conventions; permissive.
- Her parents had liberal ideas about child-rearing.
(politics) Open to political or social changes and reforms associated with either classical or modern liberalism.
- Endorsing the liberal anti-interventionist credo that the marketplace should act as the "site of verification," the advocates of white lead opposed government intervention for the sake of open economic competition, which they claimed revealed its true value and thus should be the sole determinant: "When the railways were built, the stage coaches disppeared; they died a timely death. If zinc white is truly superior to white lead, it will kill us in the marketplace, but the government should not intervene." These were the words of Expert-Bezançon, in his February 1903 deposition to the parliamentary committee examining the bill for banning lead-based pigments in paint.

noun

One with liberal views, supporting individual liberty (see Wikipedia's article on Liberalism).
(US politics, Canadian politics, Philippine politics) Someone with progressive or left-wing views, especially on social and environmental issues.
(politics) A supporter of any of several liberal parties.
(UK politics) One who favors individual voting rights, human and civil rights, and laissez-faire markets (also called "classical liberal"; compare libertarian).
(Australian politics) A conservative, especially a liberal conservative.