different between liberal vs snowflake

English

Etymology

The adjective is from Old French liberal, from Latin l?ber?lis (“befitting a freeman”), from l?ber (“free”); it is attested since the 14th century. The noun is first attested in the 1800s.

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: l?'br?l, IPA^(key): /?l?b??l/
• (US) enPR: l?'b?r?l, IPA^(key): /?l?b???l/

Adjective

liberal (comparative more liberal, superlative most liberal)

1. (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.
   • 1983, David Leslie Wagner, The Seven liberal arts in the Middle Ages
   • 2008, Donal G. Mulcahy, The Educated Person: Toward a New Paradigm for Liberal Education ?ISBN

2. Generous; willing to give unsparingly.

3. Ample, abundant; generous in quantity.
   • 1896, in Ice and refrigeration, volume 11, page 93:

     For this reason a liberal amount of piping should be used. If a liberal supply of piping is provided at first, the first cost will of course be greater, but the extra expenditure is called for but once.

4. (obsolete) Unrestrained, licentious.
   • 1599, William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing, Act 4 Scene 1

     Myself, my brother, and this grieved count,

     Did see her, hear her, at that hour last night,

     Talk with a ruffian at her chamber-window;

     Who hath indeed, most like a liberal villain,

     Confess'd the vile encounters they have had

     A thousand times in secret.

5. Widely open to new ideas, willing to depart from established opinions or conventions; permissive.

6. (politics) Open to political or social changes and reforms associated with either classical or modern liberalism.

Antonyms

• conservative

Hyponyms

• small-l liberal

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Noun

liberal (plural liberals)

1. One with liberal views, supporting individual liberty (see Wikipedia's article on Liberalism).
2. (US) Someone left-wing; one with a left-wing ideology.
3. A supporter of any of several liberal parties.
4. (Britain) One who favors individual voting rights, human and civil rights, and laissez-faire markets (also called "classical liberal"; compare libertarian).

Derived terms

• neo-liberal, neoliberal

Coordinate terms

• moderate, conservative, progressive, libertarian, centrist

Translations

References

• liberal at OneLook Dictionary Search
• liberal in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
• "liberal" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 179.
• liberal in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• liberal in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• Braille, Briella, braille

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin l?ber?lis (“befitting a freeman”), from l?ber (“free”), attested from the 14th century.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /li.b???al/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /li.be??al/
• Hyphenation: li?be?ral

Adjective

liberal (masculine and feminine plural liberals)

1. liberal (clarification of this definition is needed)

Derived terms

References

Further reading

• “liberal” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “liberal” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “liberal” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

German

Etymology

From Latin l?ber?lis (“befitting a freeman”), from l?ber (“free”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?lib???a?l/, /?l?-/
• Rhymes: -a?l

Adjective

liberal (comparative liberaler, superlative am liberalsten)

1. liberal; permissive; allowing personal freedoms

2. (politics) libertarian; liberal in the traditional sense (see usage notes below)

Usage notes

• Liberale Parteien (“libertarian/liberal parties”) in German-speaking Europe are associated with support for free-market economy and small government. These parties most often represent the centre or even the centre-right of the political spectrum. The sense “left-wing”, which English liberal now often has, does not exist in the German word. When used of particular policies, German liberal means “permissive, rejecting legal restraints”. Thus, for example, left-wing parties are more likely to be liberal with regard to abortion, while right-wing parties are more likely to be liberal with regard to arms sales.

Declension

Derived terms

• liberalisieren
• Liberalismus

Indonesian

Etymology

From Dutch liberaal, from Middle French [Term?] (Modern French libéral), from Old French liberal, from Latin l?ber?lis (“befitting a freeman”), from l?ber (“free”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [lib??ral]
• Hyphenation: li?bê?ral

Adjective

liberal

1. liberal:
   1. widely open to new ideas, willing to depart from established opinions or conventions; permissive.
   2. open to political or social changes and reforms associated with either classical or modern liberalism.

Derived terms

Related terms

Further reading

• “liberal” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia (KBBI) Daring, Jakarta: Badan Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa, Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Republik Indonesia, 2016.

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From French libéral, from Latin liberalis

Adjective

liberal (masculine and feminine liberal, neuter liberalt, definite singular and plural liberale)

1. liberal

References

• “liberal” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “liberal” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From French libéral, from Latin l?ber?lis.

Adjective

liberal (masculine and feminine liberal, neuter liberalt, definite singular and plural liberale)

1. liberal

References

• “liberal” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old French

Etymology

From Latin l?ber?lis (“befitting a freeman”), from l?ber (“free”).

Adjective

liberal m (oblique and nominative feminine singular liberale)

1. appropriate for a free person
2. generous; giving

Descendants

• ? English: liberal
• French: libéral

Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin l?ber?lis (“befitting a freeman”), from l?ber (“free”).

Pronunciation

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /li.??.??a?/
• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /li.be.??aw/
• Hyphenation: li?be?ral

Adjective

liberal m or f (plural liberais, comparable)

1. liberal, generous, tolerant
2. (politics) liberal

Noun

liberal m, f (plural liberais)

1. (politics) liberal

Usage notes

In Brazil, the political sense of "liberal" is used to describe supporters of economic freedom, like classical liberals.

Romanian

Etymology

From French libéral, from Latin liberalis.

Adjective

liberal m or n (feminine singular liberal?, masculine plural liberali, feminine and neuter plural liberale)

1. liberal

Declension

Related terms

• liberalism
• liberalitate

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

From l?ber?lan.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lib?ra?l/
• Hyphenation: li?be?ral

Noun

libèr?l m (Cyrillic spelling ????????)

1. liberal

Declension

References

• “liberal” in Hrvatski jezi?ni portal

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin l?ber?lis (“befitting a freeman”), from l?ber (“free”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /libe??al/, [li.??e??al]
• Hyphenation: li?be?ral

Adjective

liberal (plural liberales)

1. liberal
2. (US politics) liberal
3. (Argentina, Uruguay) libertarian

Derived terms

Noun

liberal m or f (plural liberales)

1. liberal
2. (US politics) liberal
3. (Argentina, Uruguay) libertarian

Usage notes

In Latin America and Spain, the political sense of "liberal" is used to describe supporters of economic freedom, like classical liberals.

Further reading

• “liberal” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.

Swedish

Etymology

From Latin l?ber?lis (“befitting a freeman”), from l?ber (“free”).

Pronunciation

Adjective

liberal (comparative liberalare, superlative liberalast)

1. liberal

Declension

Noun

liberal c

1. a liberal

Declension

Turkish

Etymology

From French libéral

Adjective

liberal (comparative daha liberal, superlative en liberal)

1. liberal

English

Alternative forms

• snow-flake

Etymology

From snow +? flake. Compare Saterland Frisian Sneeflokke (“snowflake”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: sn??fl?k
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?sn??.fle?k/
  • (General American) IPA^(key): /?sno?.fle?k/

Noun

snowflake (plural snowflakes)

1. A crystal of snow, having approximate hexagonal symmetry.
2. Any of several bulbous European plants, of the genus Leucojum, having white flowers.
3. The snow bunting, Plectrophenax nivalis.
4. (slang, derogatory) Someone who believes they are as unique and special as a snowflake.
5. (slang, derogatory) Someone hypersensitive to insult or offense, especially a young person with politically correct sensibilities.
   • 2017, Dylan Kyle, quoted in "Campus Voices", The Mugdown (Texas A&M University), August 2017, page 15:

     When have words ever hurt anyone? The triggered snowflakes at this liberal university are trying to literally murder our freedom of speech.

   • 2017, Ben Brill, "What's wrong with saying 'Happy holidays' this December", High Tide (Redondo Union High School), 20 October 2017, page 7:

     Fox News pundits claim to be upset because companies are choosing to embrace the "holidays" rather than "Christmas" to avoid offending any liberal snowflakes.

   • 2020, Erin McLaughlin, "Free speech cowed at GMU", The Collegian (Grove City College), 31 January 2020, page 8:

     Within a few minutes of stepping foot on the school grounds, a triggered snowflake called the police. Multiple officers accosted Kevin McMahon, a YAF staffer, and threatened to arrest him for exercising his free speech rights since he was outside the designated "free speech area."

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:snowflake.
6. (ophthalmology) A type of lesion that appears as scattered white-brown spots under high magnification light microscopy.
7. Something that is unique in every presentation.
8. (slang, usually derogatory) A Caucasian person.
9. (historical) Someone (usually white) who was opposed to the abolition of slavery (Missouri, 1860s)

Usage notes

The pejorative sense of "an overly sensitive person" arose from a still-common misconception that no two snowflakes are alike. "Snowflake" as a derogatory term was popularized by its use in the 1996 novel Fight Club, by Chuck Palahniuk (see quotation above), but the insult had existed for a significant amount of time prior to this, although not in popular use. In recent years, the meaning has expanded from "a person who believes they are unique" to also denote someone who is too sensitive and is easily offended, based on conceptions of snowflakes' fragility and weakness.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• ?
• snowfleck

Verb

snowflake (third-person singular simple present snowflakes, present participle snowflaking, simple past and past participle snowflaked)

1. To fall in the manner of a snowflake.
2. (computing, databases) To arrange (data) into a snowflake schema.

Further reading

• snowflake on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Leucojum on Wikispecies.Wikispecies

References

Anagrams

• flowsnake