The meaning of word freedom

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Freedom is understood as either having the ability to act or change without constraint or to possess the power and resources to fulfill one’s purposes unhindered. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of «giving oneself one’s own laws», and with having rights and the civil liberties with which to exercise them without undue interference by the state. Frequently discussed kinds of political freedom include freedom of assembly, freedom of association, freedom of choice, and freedom of speech.

In one definition, something is «free» if it can change easily and is not constrained in its present state. (Physicists and chemists may use the word in this sense.^[1]) Philosophy and religion sometimes associate freedom with free will, without undue or unjust constraints on that will, such as enslavement. It is an idea closely tied with the concept of negative liberty.

Charles Taylor resolves one of the issues^[which?] that separate «positive» and «negative» theories of freedom, as these were initially distinguished in Isaiah Berlin’s seminal 1958 lecture, «Two concepts of liberty». Taylor sees it as undeniable that there are two such families of conceptions of political freedom. Negative liberty is a concept that is often used in political philosophy. It is the idea that freedom means an ability to do what one wants, without external obstacles. This concept has been called too simplistic for discounting the importance of individual self-realization.^{[citation needed]} Positive liberty is the ability to fulfill one’s purposes.^[2][3]

In its origin, the English word «freedom» relates etymologically to the word «friend».^[4]

Types[edit]

In political discourse, political freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of «giving oneself their own laws», and with having rights and the civil liberties with which to exercise them without undue interference by the state. Frequently discussed kinds of political freedom include freedom of assembly, freedom of association, freedom of choice, and freedom of speech.

In some occasions, particularly when discussion is limited to political freedoms, the terms «freedom» and «liberty» tend to be used interchangeably.^[5][6] Elsewhere, subtle distinctions between freedom and liberty are noted.^[7] John Stuart Mill differentiated liberty from freedom in that freedom is primarily, if not exclusively, the ability to do as one wills and what one has the power to do, whereas liberty concerns the absence of arbitrary restraints and takes into account the rights of all involved. As such, the exercise of liberty is subject to capability and limited by the rights of others.^{[8][failed verification]}

Wendy Hui Kyong Chun explains the differences in terms of their relation to institutions:

«Liberty is linked to human subjectivity; freedom is not. The Declaration of Independence, for example, describes men as having liberty and the nation as being free. Free will—the quality of being free from the control of fate or necessity—may first have been attributed to human will, but Newtonian physics attributes freedom—degrees of freedom, free bodies—to objects.»^[9]

«Freedom differs from liberty as control differs from discipline. Liberty, like discipline, is linked to institutions and political parties, whether liberal or libertarian; freedom is not. Although freedom can work for or against institutions, it is not bound to them—it travels through unofficial networks. To have liberty is to be liberated from something; to be free is to be self-determining, autonomous. Freedom can or cannot exist within a state of liberty: one can be liberated yet unfree, or free yet enslaved (Orlando Patterson has argued in Freedom: Freedom in the Making of Western Culture that freedom arose from the yearnings of slaves).»^[9]

Another distinction that some political theorists have deemed important is that people may aspire to have freedom from limiting forces (such as freedom from fear, freedom from want, and freedom from discrimination), but descriptions of freedom and liberty generally do not invoke having liberty from anything.^[6] To the contrary, the concept of negative liberty refers to the liberty one person may have to restrict the rights of others.^[6]

Other important fields in which freedom is an issue include economic freedom, academic freedom, intellectual freedom, scientific freedom and political freedom.

See also[edit]

• Internet freedom
• Freedom Riders — civil-rights activists
• Freethought
• Personal freedom
• Statue of Freedom, an 1863 sculpture by Thomas Crawford atop the dome of the US Capitol
• Statue of Liberty (Liberty Enlightening the World), 1886 statue by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi in New York City]]
• Goddess of Liberty, an 1888 statue by Elijah E. Myers atop the Texas State Capitol dome, in Austin, Texas
• Miss Freedom, 1889 statue on the dome of the Georgia State Capitol (US)
• Freedom, 1985 statue by Alfred Tibor in Columbus, Ohio
• Freedom songs
• Freedom & Civilization, 1944 book by Bronislaw Malinowski about freedom from anthropological perspective

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• «Freedom», BBC Radio 4 discussion with John Keane, Bernard Williams & Annabel Brett (In Our Time, 4 July 2002)

• Abkhaz: ахақәиҭра (axakʷitra)
• Adyghe: шъхьэфитынгъэ (ŝḥefiitənğe), шъхьафитныгъ (ŝḥaafiitnəğ)
• Afrikaans: vryheid
• Albanian: liri (sq) m
• Amharic: አርነት (ʾärnät), ነጻነት (näṣanät)
• Arabic: حُرِّيَّة‎ (ar) f (ḥurriyya)

  Egyptian Arabic: حرية‎ f (ḥorreyya)

  Hijazi Arabic: حُرِّيَّة‎ f (ḥurriya)

• Aragonese: please add this translation if you can
• Aramaic:

  Classical Syriac: ܚܐܪܘܬܐ‎ f (ḥērūṯā)

  Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܚܹܐܪܘܼܬܵܐ‎ f (ḳēruta)

• Armenian: ազատություն (hy) (azatutʿyun)
• Aromanian: elefteríe f
• Assamese: স্বাধীনতা (sadhinota)
• Asturian: llibertá (ast) f
• Avar: хӏуригат (ḥʳurigat)
• Azerbaijani: azadlıq (az), hürriyət
• Bambara: hɔrɔnya
• Bashkir: ирек (irek), хөрриәт (xörriät)
• Basque: askatasun, libertate
• Belarusian: свабо́да (be) f (svabóda), во́льнасць (be) f (vólʹnascʹ)
• Bengali: স্বাধীনতা (bn) (śadhinota), আজাদী (bn) (azadī)
• Bikol Central: katalingkasan (bcl)
• Breton: frankiz (br) f
• Buginese: ᨕᨆᨑᨙᨉᨀᨂᨛ (amaradékangeng)
• Bulgarian: свобода́ (bg) f (svobodá), во́лност (bg) f (vólnost)
• Burmese: လွတ်လပ်ခွင့် (my) (lwatlaphkwang.)
• Buryat: сулөө (sulöö)
• Catalan: llibertat (ca) f
• Cebuano: kagawasan
• Chechen: маршо (maršo)
• Cherokee: ᏠᎯ ᎠᏕᏗ (tlohi adedi)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 自由 (zi⁶ jau⁴)

  Dungan: зыю (zɨi͡u)

  Hakka: 自由 (chhṳ-yù)

  Mandarin: 自由 (zh) (zìyóu)

  Min Dong: 自由 (cê̤ṳ-iù)

  Min Nan: 自由 (zh-min-nan) (chū-iû)

  Wu: 自由 (zr hhieu)

• Coptic: ⲙⲉⲧⲣⲉⲙϩⲉ f (metremhe)
• Cornish: rydhses m
• Crimean Tatar: azatlıq, serbestlik
• Czech: svoboda (cs) f, volnost (cs) f
• Danish: frihed c
• Dargwa: азаддеш (azaddeš), хӏуррият (ḥurriət)
• Dhivehi: މިނިވަންކަން‎ (minivan̊kan̊)
• Dutch: vrijheid (nl) f, vrijdom (nl) m
• Elfdalian: friiet
• Erzya: оля (oľa), олячи (oľači)
• Esperanto: libereco (eo)
• Estonian: vabadus
• Evenki: ты̄нмукӣт (tīnmukīt), свобода (swoboda)
• Faliscan: 𐌋𐌏𐌉𐌚𐌉𐌓𐌕𐌀𐌕𐌏 f (loifirtato)
• Faroese: frælsi n
• Finnish: vapaus (fi)
• French: liberté (fr) f
• Friulian: libertât f
• Galician: liberdade (gl) f
• Georgian: თავისუფლება (tavisupleba)
• German: Freiheit (de) f
• Gothic: 𐍆𐍂𐌴𐌹𐌷𐌰𐌻𐍃 m (freihals), 𐍆𐍂𐌹𐌾𐌴𐌹 f (frijei)
• Greek: ελευθερία (el) f (elefthería)

  Ancient: ἐλευθερία f (eleuthería), τοὐλεύθερον n (touleútheron)

• Guaraní: sasõ
• Gujarati: સ્વતંત્રતા f (svatantratā)
• Haitian Creole: libète
• Hausa: ‘yanci m
• Hebrew: חוֹפֶשׁ‎ (he) m (khófesh), דְּרוֹר‎ (he) m (dror)
• Hiligaynon: kahilwayan
• Hindi: स्वतंत्रता (hi) m (svatantratā), आज़ादी (hi) f (āzādī), स्वाधीनता (hi) f (svādhīntā), मुक्ति (hi) f (mukti)
• Hungarian: szabadság (hu), függetlenség (hu)
• Icelandic: frelsi (is) n
• Ido: libereso (io)
• Indonesian: kebebasan (id), kemerdekaan (id)
• Ingush: кортамукъале (kortamuqʼale)
• Interlingua: libertate (ia)
• Irish: saoirse f
• Italian: libertà (it) f
• Japanese: 自由 (ja) (じゆう, jiyū)
• Kabiyé: tɩ-yɔɔ wɛʋ
• Kabyle: tilelli
• Kalmyk: сулдхвр (suldhvr)
• Kannada: ಸ್ವಾತಂತ್ರ್ಯ (kn) (svātantrya)
• Karachay-Balkar: эркинлик (erkinlik)
• Karelian: välly
• Kazakh: азаттық (kk) (azattyq), ерік (kk) (erık), бостандық (kk) (bostandyq), еркіндік (erkındık)
• Khmer: សេរីភាព (km) (seerəyphiəp)
• Korean: 자유(自由) (ko) (jayu)
• Kumyk: азатлыкъ (azatlıq)
• Kunigami: ままー (mamā), 自由 (ぢゆー, ziyū)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: ڕزگاری‎ (rizgarî), ئازادی‎ (ckb) (azadî)

  Northern Kurdish: serbestî (ku) f, azadî (ku) f

• Kyrgyz: азаттык (ky) (azattık), эркиндик (ky) (erkindik), боштондук (ky) (boştonduk), эрк (ky) (erk)
• Ladin: lidëza f
• Ladino: alforría f
• Lao: ອິດສະຫຼະພາບ (lo) (ʼit sa la phāp)
• Latin: lībertās (la) f
• Latvian: brīvība f
• Leonese: llibertá f
• Lezgi: азадвал (azadval)
• Limburgish: vriehed f
• Lingala: bonsɔ́mí class 14
• Lithuanian: laisvė (lt) f
• Luxembourgish: Fräiheet f
• Macedonian: слобода f (sloboda)
• Malagasy: fahafahana (mg)
• Malay: merdeka (ms), kebebasan
• Malayalam: സ്വാതന്ത്ര്യം (ml) (svātantryaṃ)
• Maltese: libertà f, ħelsien m
• Manx: seyrsnys m
• Maori: noho herekore, herekoretanga
• Marathi: स्वतंत्रता (svatantratā)
• Mari:

  Western Mari: ирӹк (irÿk)

• Mirandese: libardade f, lhibardade f
• Moksha: воляши (voľaši), воля (voľa)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: эрх чөлөө (erx čölöö)

• Neapolitan: libbertà f
• Nepali: स्वतन्त्रता (ne) (svatantratā)
• Norman: libèrté f (Jersey)
• Northern Sami: friddjavuohta
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: fridom (no) m, frihet (no) m or f

  Nynorsk: fridom m

• Occitan: libertat (oc) f
• Okinawan: 自由 (じゆー, jiyū)
• Old Church Slavonic:

  Cyrillic: свобода f (svoboda)

• Old East Slavic: свобода f (svoboda) (independence), слобода f (sloboda) (free state of a person)
• Old Frisian: fridom m
• Old Norse: frelsi n
• Oriya: please add this translation if you can
• Oromo: bilisummaa
• Ossetian: сӕрибардзинад (særibarʒinad)
• Ottoman Turkish: حریت‎ (hürriyet)
• Pali: mutti f
• Pashto: ازادي‎ (ps) f (azādí), آزادۍ‎ f (āzādí), حريت‎ (ps) m (horyát)
• Persian: آزادی‎ (fa) (âzâdi), حریت‎ (fa) (horriyat)
• Piedmontese: libertà f
• Polish: wolność (pl) f, swoboda (pl) f
• Portuguese: liberdade (pt) f
• Punjabi: ਆਜ਼ਾਦੀ (pa) f (āzādī), ਖੁੱਲ੍ਹ f (khullh)
• Quechua: qispiy
• Rajasthani: please add this translation if you can
• Romagnol: libartê f
• Romanian: libertate (ro) f, slobozie (ro) f
• Romansch: libertad f (Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan, Sutsilvan, Surmiran), liberted f (Puter), libertà f (Vallader)
• Russian: свобо́да (ru) f (svobóda), во́ля (ru) f (vólja), во́льность (ru) f (vólʹnostʹ)
• Sanskrit: स्वतन्त्रता (sa) f (svatantratā), स्वातन्य n (svātanya)
• Sardinian

  Logudorese: libertade f

• Scots: fredome
• Scottish Gaelic: saorsa f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: слобо̀да f

  Roman: slobòda (sh) f

• Sicilian: libbirtati (scn) f, libbirtà (scn) f, libirtati (scn) f, libirtà (scn) f
• Silesian: wolność f
• Sindhi: please add this translation if you can
• Sinhalese: නිදහස (nidahasa)
• Slovak: sloboda f
• Slovene: svoboda (sl) f, prostost f
• Somali: xorriyad f
• Sorbian:

  Upper Sorbian: swoboda f

• Southern Altai: эрик (erik)
• Spanish: libertad (es) f
• Sumerian: 𒂼𒄀 (AMA.GI)
• Swahili: uhuru (sw) class 11/12
• Swedish: frihet (sv) c
• Tagalog: kalayaan
• Tajik: озодӣ (tg) (ozodī), ҳуррият (hurriyat)
• Talysh: ozodəti
• Tamil: விடுதலை (ta) (viṭutalai)
• Tatar: азатлык (tt) (azatlıq), ирек (tt) (irek)
• Telugu: స్వతంత్రము (te) (svatantramu), స్వేచ్ఛ (te) (svēccha)
• Thai: อิสรภาพ (th) (ìt-sà-rà-pâap)
• Tibetan: རང་དབང (rang dbang)
• Tigrinya: ሐርነት (ḥärnät), ናጽነት (naṣnät)
• Tofa: сөләә (sölää)
• Tourangeau: libartaiy
• Tswana: kgololêsêgô class 9
• Turkish: özgürlük (tr), hürriyet (tr), azatlık (tr), erkinlik (tr), serbestlik (tr)
• Turkmen: azatlyk (tk), erkinlik
• Tuvan: хосталга (xostalga), эрге-шөлээ (erge-şölee)
• Udmurt: эрик (erik)
• Ukrainian: свобо́да (uk) f (svobóda), ві́льність f (vílʹnistʹ), во́ля (uk) f (vólja)
• Urdu: آزادی‎ (ur) f (āzādī)
• Uyghur: ئەركىنلىك‎ (erkinlik), ھۆرلۈك‎ (ug) (hörlük), ھۆرىيەت‎ (höriyet)
• Uzbek: ozodlik (uz), erkinlik (uz), hurlik (uz), hurriyat (uz), erk (uz)
• Venetian: łibartà f
• Vietnamese: tự do (vi) (自由)
• Vilamovian: frajhajt f
• Volapük: lib (vo)
• Võro: vabahus
• Walloon: lîbèrté f
• Welsh: rhyddid (cy) m
• West Frisian: frijheid
• Xhosa: inkululeko class 9/10
• Yakut: көҥүл (köñül)
• Yiddish: פֿרײַהייט‎ f (frayheyt)
• Yucatec Maya: jaalkʼab, síij óol
• Zhuang: swyouz (自由)
• Zulu: inkululeko class 9/10

Im not an expert, but i would consider that the dom in those words: freedom, serfdom, kingdom may be contractions referring to the longer word dominion.

Given that the time period of the origin of the word dominion, it is mostly pertaining to ownership/dominion over a region of land.

dominion (n.) early 15c., from Old French dominion «dominion, rule,
power,» from Medieval Latin dominionem (nominative dominio),
corresponding to Latin dominium «property, ownership,» from dominus
«lord, master,» from domus «house» (from PIE root *dem- «house,
household»).

British sovereign colonies often were called dominions, hence the
Dominion of Canada, the formal title after the 1867 union, and Old
Dominion, the popular name for the U.S. state of Virginia, first
recorded 1778.

[https://www.etymonline.com/word/dominion]

In a kingdom, the king has dominion over the land.

In a serfdom, the serf has no dominion over the land, the lord does.

In a freedom, noone has dominion over the land, or alternatively, anyone is free to gain/develop/enforce/purchase dominion over the land.

Of course, it could work the other way, where dominion is an elaboration of the root dom which as it says above (and in Tamara’s answer) comes from domus and dem that mean house.

Last Updated:
6 Apr 2023
— Updated example sentences