liberal arts
plural noun
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Why do we call the liberal arts "liberal"?
The liberal in liberal arts is not political. Its roots can be traced to the Latin word liber, meaning “free, unrestricted.” Our language took the term from the Latin liberales artes, which described the education given to members of the upper classes as well as to those with the full rights of a citizen; this education involved training in such subjects as grammar, logic, geometry, etc., as opposed to the education reserved for the lower classes, which involved mechanical or occupational skills. The phrase liberal arts has been part of our language for a very long time, with use dating back to the 14th century.
Examples of liberal arts in a Sentence
Ryan Hogg, Fortune Europe, 19 Apr. 2024
Enrollment at the small, Catholic liberal arts college in Radnor, Pennsylvania, had fallen more than 60 percent since 2016, putting the tuition-dependent school with a small endowment under serious financial pressure.
—Athena Jones, CNN, 13 Apr. 2024
That pipeline is the lifeblood of major universities and boutique liberal arts colleges alike.
—Philip Elliott, TIME, 12 Apr. 2024
People who attended Purdue were seen as more working-class than those attending liberal arts colleges at the time, the university says.
—NBC News, 9 Apr. 2024
In a rural state where a small Jewish population often needs grit, ingenuity and strong relationships to achieve its goals, the small liberal arts college and the small Waterville synagogue have long been closely tied.
—Jenna Russell Tristan Spinski, New York Times, 6 Apr. 2024
The environmental liberal arts institution has been a part of the Ashland community since 1892.
—Kelly Meyerhofer, Journal Sentinel, 4 Apr. 2024
The private liberal arts school where Samay attended is in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, about 60 miles north of the state's capital, Harrisburg.
—USA TODAY, 1 Apr. 2024
Gonzaga University, a private liberal arts school with just over 5,000 undergraduate students, is located in Spokane, Washington.
—Arpan Lobo, Detroit Free Press, 28 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'liberal arts.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near liberal arts
Cite this Entry
“Liberal arts.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/liberal%20arts. Accessed 26 Apr. 2024.
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