Dictionary

liberate en · ADJ · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• /ˈlɪbəɹet/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈlɪbəˌɹet/ (General-American)

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin līberātus (“freed, liberated; absolved, acquitted; released”); see English -ate (suffix forming verbs, and used as the ending of participial adjectives and obsolete past participles from Latin). Līberātus is the perfect passive participle of līberō (“to free, liberate; to absolve, acquit; to release”), from līber (“free, unrestricted”), + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs); and līberō is ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁léwdʰeros (“free”), from *h₁lewdʰ- (“to grow; people”) + *-teros (contrastive or oppositional adjectival suffix) (*h₁léwdʰeros possibly originally meant ‘belonging to one’s own people’, excluding slaves who were captured from other groups of people, and thus later came to mean “free (not enslaved)”). Not related to deliberate.

Meanings

1. (Scotland, not-comparable, obsolete, transitive) Freed, released; free.
   • The Papiſts make advantage of the Ceremonies, and thereby confirme themſelves in Popery. […] If vve vvere liberate from the Ceremonies, then might vve doe more againſt the Papiſts, and they ſhould not inſult as they doe. 1637, [George Gillespie], “That the Ceremonies are Inexpedient, because They Burden and Confirme the Papists”, in A Dispvte against the English-popish Ceremonies, Obtrvded vpon the Church of Scotland. […], [Leiden, South Holland]: […] [W. Christiaens], →OCLC, section I, 2nd part (Against the Expediency of the Ceremonies), page 24:
   • [I]n place of eſtablishing true Chriſtian Liberty, vvhich you ſeem here to aſſert, it is evident, that you go about plainly to ſet up, an abſolute Spiritual tyranny, over the Church of God, and ſo load it vvith the Ceremonies, and innovations, a bondage more ſevere then the old diſpenſation, from vvhich vve are liberate; […] 1671, A Lover of Truth [pseudonym; Robert McWard], “The Third Dialogue Answered”, in The True Non-conformist: In Answere to the Modest and Free Conference betwixt a Conformist and a Non-conformist, about the Present Distempers of Scotland. […], [Amsterdam, South Holland?]: [s.n.], →OCLC, page 125:

wikipedia: Victory in Europe Day

liberate en · VERB · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• /ˈlɪbəɹeɪt/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈlɪbəˌɹeɪt/ (General-American)
• /ˈlɪbəɹet/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈlɪbəɹɛjt/ (British, Southern, Standard)
• /ˈlɪbəˌɹet/ (General-American)
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin līberātus (“freed, liberated; absolved, acquitted; released”); see English -ate (suffix forming verbs, and used as the ending of participial adjectives and obsolete past participles from Latin). Līberātus is the perfect passive participle of līberō (“to free, liberate; to absolve, acquit; to release”), from līber (“free, unrestricted”), + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs); and līberō is ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁léwdʰeros (“free”), from *h₁lewdʰ- (“to grow; people”) + *-teros (contrastive or oppositional adjectival suffix) (*h₁léwdʰeros possibly originally meant ‘belonging to one’s own people’, excluding slaves who were captured from other groups of people, and thus later came to mean “free (not enslaved)”). Not related to deliberate.

Meanings

1. (transitive) Often followed by from: to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free; to set free, to release.
   • In Great Britain, where a vigorous antivivisection movement has existed for more than a century, a clandestine group called the Animal Liberation Front conducts commando-style raids on laboratories, liberating animals and sabotaging research equipment. 1978 December 31, Patricia Curtis, “New Debate over Experimenting with Animals”, in The New York Times Magazine, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 22 Jan 2021, page 20, column 4:
   • This is not a time for telling stories, when I am in this prison; but when thou liberatest me, I will relate to thee their case. 1839, “Chapter II. Continuation of the Story of the Fisherman.”, in Edward William Lane, transl., The Thousand and One Nights, Commonly Called, in England, the Arabian Nights’ Entertainments. […], volume I, London: Charles Knight and Co. […], →OCLC, page 97:
   • Thus ſitting and ſurveying thus at eaſe / The globe and its concerns, I ſeem advanced / To ſome ſecure and more than mortal height, / That lib'rates and exempts me from them all. 1785, William Cowper, “Book IV. The Winter Evening.”, in The Task, a Poem, […], London: […] J[oseph] Johnson; […], →OCLC, page 142:
   • [T]he prisoner being liberate in manner foresaid, it shall not be lawful to put or detain him in prison for the same crime, under the penalty of wrongous imprisonment, […] 1828, James Watson, “Wrongous Imprisonment”, in A Practical View of the Statute Law of Scotland, from the Year MCCCCXXIV to the Close of the Session of Parliament MDCCCXXVII, […], volume II, Edinburgh: […] [James Walker] for Bell & Bradfute, and Thomas M. Shiells, →OCLC, page 415:
   • Walking slow to beating bosom surest solace soonest gives, / Liberates the brain o'erloaded—best of all restoratives. 1877 September 14, Robert Browning, “La Saisiaz”, in La Saisiaz: The Two Poets of Croisic, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], published 1878, →OCLC, page 52:
   • The Doctrine [of the Bardo Thödol] is one which liberateth by being seen, without need of meditation or of sādhanā [perfected devotion]; this Profound Teaching liberateth by being heard or being seen. This Profound Teaching liberateth those of great evil karma through the Secret Pathway. 1927, [Karma Lingpa], “[The General Conclusion]”, in Kazi Dawa-Samdup, transl., edited by W[alter] Y[eeling] Evans-Wentz, The Tibetan Book of the Dead: Or The After-death Experiences on the Bardo Plane, According to Lāma Kazi Dawa-Samdup’s English Rendering, London: Oxford University Press; Humphrey Milford, →OCLC, book II (The Sidpa Bardo), part II (The Process of Rebirth), page 196:
2. (alt-of, obsolete, transitive) Obsolete form of liberated (past participle of liberate).
   alt of liberated
3. (transitive) Often followed by from: to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free; to set free, to release. ▸ To free (someone or something) from discriminatory or oppressive attitudes, inhibition, or restraint.
   • They [the missionaries] liberated woman and made her the equal of man. 1870–1871 (date written), Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], “”, in Roughing It, Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Company [et al.], published 1872, →OCLC, page 482:
   • You need to free your mind and liberate yourself from prejudice.
   • [A] little philosophy liberates our sex from the tyranny of custom, teaches us to disdain hypocrisy, and to glory in the simplicity of truth. 1806, [Maria] Edgeworth, “Letter XLI. Olivia to Madame de P——.”, in Leonora. […], volume I, London: […] [Joyce Gold] for J[oseph] Johnson, […], →OCLC, page 273:
   • The moſt ſanguine projector, hovvever, could ſcarce flatter himſelf that any augmentation of this kind [in the form of certain taxes] vvould be ſuch as could give any reaſonable hopes either of liberating the public revenue altogether, or even of making ſuch progress tovvards that liberation in time of peace, as either to prevent or to compenſate the further accumulation of the public debt in the next vvar. 1776 March 9, Adam Smith, “Of Publick Debts”, in An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. […], volume II, London: […] W[illiam] Strahan; and T[homas] Cadell, […], →OCLC, book V (Of the Revenue of the Sovereign or Commonwealth), pages 568–569:
   • Jeeves: Foreign travel often liberates emotions best kept in check, sir. The air of North America is notoriously stimulating in this regard, as witness the regrettable behavior of its inhabitants in 1776. / Bertie Wooster: Hm? What happened in 1776, Jeeves? / Jeeves: I prefer not to dwell on it, if it's convenient to you, sir. 1991 May 12 (first broadcast), Clive Exton, “Kidnapped!”, in Jeeves and Wooster, season 2, episode 5, spoken by Jeeves (Stephen Fry), New York, N.Y.: A & E Home Video, →ISBN:
4. (transitive) Often followed by from: to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free; to set free, to release. ▸ To release (someone) from slavery; to manumit.
5. (ironic, sometimes, transitive) Often followed by from: to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free; to set free, to release. ▸ To free (a place such as a country, or the residents thereof) from an occupying force, or from oppression such as unjust rule.
   • I announced that I was leaving with the two-and-a-half filled with with all of the automatic weapons from both camps plus all the plastique explosive, related equipment, and the pistols. They were to be used, I explained, in parts of France where the war was still going on, by Frenchmen who were still fighting to liberate their country from the Germans. 1986, Jack Hemingway, chapter 14, in Misadventures of a Fly Fisherman: My Life with and without Papa, Dallas, Tex.: Taylor Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 163:
   • All your Italian friends must be starving now that we have "liberated" them. 1944 December 4 (date written), [George] Bernard Shaw, “[Letter dated 4 December 1944]”, in To a Young Actress: The Letters of Bernard Shaw to Molly Tompkins: The Correspondence between Bernard Shaw and an American Artist from 1921 through 1949, New York, N.Y.: Clarkson N. Potter, published 1960, →OCLC, page 181:
6. (transitive) Often followed by from: to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free; to set free, to release. ▸ To cause (energy or a substance) to be released through a chemical reaction or physical decomposition.
   • Since the reaction liberates a large amount of chlorine gas, a powerful ventilation system is recommended.
7. (euphemistic, informal, transitive) To take (property belonging to someone else) by force or theft; to loot, to rob, to steal.
   • We didn’t need IDs. We just liberated these beers from the back of the shop.
   • All members of the Black Guard must be willing to perform acts of violence before they are nominated. I had proven myself, when I was required to liberate (steal) dynamite, steal cars for robberies, and to perform disciplinary action against party members. 1969 June 18, Larry Clayton Powell, witness, “Testimony of Mrs. Jean Powell and Larry Clayton Powell”, in Riots, Civil and Criminal Disorders: Hearings before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Government Operations, United States Senate, Ninety-first Congress, First Session: Pursuant to Senate Resolution 26, 91th Cengress […], part 19, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 3796:
   • He was trying to liberate some funds for the revolution from a liquor store, and he got caught. It was his first time out, and he got flat-ass caught. 1977, Collin Wilcox, chapter 14, in Doctor, Lawyer …, New York, N.Y.: Random House, →OCLC, page 112:
   • For expedience, he intended to use his talents to liberate a few choice bottles from the wine cellars without going through the difficulty of a formal requisition. 1986, Jack Hemingway, chapter 13, in Misadventures of a Fly Fisherman: My Life with and without Papa, Dallas, Tex.: Taylor Publishing Company, →ISBN, pages 157–158:

Forms

Antonyms

restrain · confine · imprison · leash · capture

Deriveds

liberated · liberative · reliberate · liberin · liberating

Hyponyms

exempt · emancipate · unchain · unfetter · unhand · manumit · acquit · excuse

Relateds

libertine · liberty · liberation · liberator · liberal · liberatory

Synonyms

free · befree · set free · discharge · befree · liberate · let go · release · turn loose · free · extricate · unleash · disentangle · let loose · loose · absolve · deliver

Translations (125)

bg освободя́ (to free (a place or the residents thereof) from an occupying force or from oppression) · pl uwalniać (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · af bevry (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · gd sgaoil (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · ja 解放する (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · lt išvaduoti (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · qu qispichiy (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · id membebaskan (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · mi whakawātea (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · fa آزاد کردن (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · lv atbrīvot (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · pl wyzwolić (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · sq çliroj (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · hi मुक्त करना (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · az azad etmək (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · ca alliberar (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · sk oslobodzovať (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · lb befreien (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · ru освободи́ть (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · hy ազատագրել (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · sh oslobáđati (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · hi आज़ाद करना (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · fi vapauttaa (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · es librar (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · tg раҳонидан (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · sh oslobòditi (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · pl uwolnić (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · mk ослободи (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · sq liroj (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · got 𐌲𐌰𐌻𐌰𐌿𐍃𐌾𐌰𐌽 (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · ko 해방(解放)하다 (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · mn ᠴᠢᠯᠦᠭᠡᠯᠡᠬᠦ (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · el ελευθερώνω (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · nn frigjere (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · uk звільня́ти (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · gd leig mu sgaoil (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · hu felszabadít (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · he שיחרר \ שִׁחְרֵר (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · de befreien (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · tg озод кардан (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · fa رهانیدن (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · sh ослоба́ђати (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · th ปลดปล่อย (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · ms membebaskan (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · da frigøre (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · ru вы́зволить (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · tr serbest bırakmak (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · gl liberar (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · cs osvobodit (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · hi रिहा करना (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · am ለቀቀ (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · sk oslobodiť (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · eo liberigi (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · sa मुञ्चति (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · cmn 釋放 /释放 (to cause (energy or a substance) to be released through a chemical reaction or physical decomposition) · da befri (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · ru вызволя́ть (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · is frelsa (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · ast lliberar (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · my လွှတ် (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · nb frigjøre (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · ga saor (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · uz ozod qilmoq (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · cy rhyddhau (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · la līberō (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · ar حَرَّرَ (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · ga fuascail (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · pl wyzwalać (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · be вызваля́ць (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · pt libertar (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · my လွတ်မြောက်စေ (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · mi wetehere (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · bg освобожда́вам (to free (a place or the residents thereof) from an occupying force or from oppression) · kk босату (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · nl bevrijden (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · pl oswabadzać (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · it liberare (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · lo ປົດປ່ອຍ (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · uk визволя́ти (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · fi vapauttaa (to free (a place or the residents thereof) from an occupying force or from oppression) · ro a elibera (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · la lībertō (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · lt išlaisvinti (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · et vabastama (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · sv befria (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · br dieubi (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · cs osvobozovat (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · fi vapauttaa (to cause (energy or a substance) to be released through a chemical reaction or physical decomposition) · mn чөлөөлөх (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · bg освободя́ (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · gl ceibar (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · tk azat etmek (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · sl osvobajati (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · ka გათავისუფლება (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · es liberar (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · nb befri (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · cmn 解放 (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · ky бошотуу (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · sl osvoboditi (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · uk ви́зволити (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · fr libérer (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · mk ослободува (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · tr özgürleştirmek (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · mi wewete (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · ug ئازاد قىلماق (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · km រំដោះ (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · bg освобожда́вам (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · pl oswobodzić (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · km បណ្ដោះ (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · pa ਅਜ਼ਾਦ ਕਰਨਾ (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · sh ослобо̀дити (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · tt азат итәргә (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · ps ازادول (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · sv frigöra (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · pa ਰਿਹਾਈ ਦੇਣੀ (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · ky азат кылуу (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · vi giải phóng (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · ru освобожда́ть (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · kk азат ету (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · cmn 解放 (to free (a place or the residents thereof) from an occupying force or from oppression) · es libertar (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · io libereskar (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · yi באַפֿרײַען (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · be вы́зваліць (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release) · uk звільни́ти (to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free — see also set free, release)

wikipedia: Victory in Europe Day

liberate en · NOUN · etymology 2

Pronunciation

• /lɪbəˈɹeɪti/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˌlɪbəˈɹeɪti/ (General-American)
• [-ɾi] (General-American)

Etymology

From Late Middle English liberate (“warrant for payment of an allowance, debt, pension, etc.; warrant for delivery of property from a sheriff’s custody”, noun), from Law French liberate, from Anglo-Norman liberate, and from their etymon Late Latin liberate (“name of such a writ”), a noun use of Latin līberāte (“deliver”) (commonly the first word of such writs), the second-person plural present active imperative of līberō (“to free, liberate; to absolve, acquit; to release”): see further at etymology 1. Compare English allocate (“warrant for the payment of an allowance, debt, pension, etc.”).

Meanings

1. (UK, historical, transitive) A writ issued out of the Chancery to authorize the Exchequer to pay a debt, pension, etc., on behalf of the Crown.
   • Now (for an ende of Bailement) I will ſhewe you one forme of a Baile, and an other of a Liberate. 1581, William Lambard[e], “What Things, some Twoo Iustices of the Peace may Doe out of the Sessions”, in Eirenarcha: Or Of the Office of the Iustices of Peace, […], London: […] Ra[lph] Newbery, and H[enry] Bynneman, by the ass[igns] of Ri[chard] Tottel & Chr[istopher] Bar[ker], →OCLC, 1st booke (What Iustices of the Peace bee: And Why Called Iustices), page 264:
   • A Liberate is an originall writ iſſuing out of the Chancery, and is directed to ſome Officers that have of the Kings mony in his hands to pay over a penſion, debt, or duty. […] [I]t appeareth that there be two kinds of writs of Liberate, one dormant or currant and continuall, and another hac vice [for this time] and particular. […] If the Officer have ſufficient in his hands to pay, ⁊c, at the time of the Liberate delivered to him, he is become debtor (by act of law) to the party, for which he may have an action of debt: but after the Liberate ſued out, and before the delivery, the king may diſcharge the Officer of the kings money in his hands. 1644, Edw[ard] Coke, “The Court of Exchequer”, in The Fourth Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England. […], London: […] M[iles] Flesher, for W[illiam] Lee, and D[aniel] Pakeman, →OCLC, page 116:
2. (UK, historical, transitive) A writ issued to a jailer to release a prisoner on bail.
   • VVith us they conſent in the Sufficiency of the Scriptures to ſalvation, in denying the Infallibility of the Church (much more of the Pope) the overplus of Merits, Service ununderſtood, Indulgencies, Liberaties out of Purgatorie, and the like. 1639, Thomas Fuller, “The Uncurable Breach betwixt the Eastern and Western Churches, with the Occasion thereof”, in The Historie of the Holy Warre, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Thomas Buck, one of the printers to the Universitie of Cambridge [and sold by John Williams, London], →OCLC, book IV, page 174:
   • For the more remote counties it was found sufficient to show the Patent to the under-sheriffs, when they came up to London to the Michaelmas law-term, and to prepare for their use a liberate, covering the prisoners in each gaol. 1919, William C[harles] Braithwaite, “The Second Conventicle Act, 1670–1673”, in The Second Period of Quakerism, London: Macmillan and Co., […], →OCLC, page 84:
3. (UK, US, historical, transitive) A writ issued to a sheriff to release property (goods or land) from their custody.
   • Goods extended before the Party becomes a Bankrupt, and delivered by the liberate after he becomes a Bankrupt, can't be ſold by the Commiſſioners, becauſe they being extended are quaſi in Cuſtodia Legis [as if in the custody of the law], ſo as the Conuzor can't diſpoſe of them; and tho' by the Extent the Conuzor hath no abſolute Property till the Delivery upon the liberate, and at the Return of the VVrit he may refuſe them if over valued; yet that is for the Benefit of the Conuzee. 1719, John Lilly, “Bankrupt”, in The Practical Register: Or, A General Abridgment of the Law, as It is Now Practised in the Several Courts of Chancery, King’s Bench, Common Pleas and Exchequer, […], 2nd edition, volume I, In the Savoy [London]: […] E[lizabeth] and R[ichard] Nutt, and R. Gosling, (assigns of Edw[ard] Sayer, Esq.) for T. Ward and C. Wicksteed […], published 1735, →OCLC, page 286:
   • [G]oods taken upon an extent sued out upon a statute staple, before the bankruptcy of the debtor, through the goods are not delivered to the creditor by the sheriff upon a liberate until after the bankruptcy, may be held by the creditor against the commissioners under the bankruptcy. 1845 June, Samuel Prentiss, District Judge, United States District Court for the District of Vermont, “In the Matter of Timothy Reed, a Bankrupt”, in The New York Legal Observer, volume III, New York, N.Y.: Samuel Owen, →OCLC, page 265, column 1:

Forms

Deriveds

liberate roll · liberate day

Translations (2)

fi määräys vapauttaa takavarikoitua omaisuutta (writ issued to a sheriff to release property from their custody) · fi määräys vapauttaa vanki takuita vastaan (writ issued to a jailer to release a prisoner on bail)

wikipedia: Victory in Europe Day