liberal arts

plural noun

1

: college or university studies (such as language, philosophy, literature, and abstract science) intended to provide chiefly general knowledge and to develop general intellectual capacities (such as reason and judgment) as opposed to professional or vocational skills

2

: the medieval studies comprising the trivium and quadrivium

Did you know?

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

Recent Examples on the Web

Tracy grew up in Milwaukee and attended Ripon College, the small liberal arts institution nestled on a hill above downtown Ripon, before dropping out to become a leading man in Hollywood. —David Maraniss, Washington Post, 15 July 2024

The small liberal arts school, McPherson College, in Kansas, has received two matching pledges since 2022 from an anonymous donor totaling $1 billion. —Jodi Helmer, Fortune, 8 July 2024

Taylor Wilson: And how about degrees in the liberal arts? —Taylor Wilson, USA TODAY, 8 July 2024

Cornell College — not to be confused with Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. — describes itself as a private liberal arts school of roughly 1,100 students. —Brian Niemietz, New York Daily News, 11 June 2024

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Kids Definition

liberal arts

plural noun

: the studies (as literature, philosophy, languages, or history) in a college or university intended to develop the mind in a general way rather than give professional or vocational skills