libertine means someone freed from slavery in Ancient Rome; a freedman.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, libertine ranks #2,309 of 14,431 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #2,328 of 14,438 for Most Storied Words, #2,517 of 14,440 for Most Satisfying to Say, #2,592 of 14,423 for Most Sublime Words.
libertine is pronounced /ˈlɪb.ə.tiːn/.
Why “libertine” is a great word
A person unrestrained by moral or sexual conventions, historically a freedman or religious freethinker. From Latin lībertīnus ('a freedman; of or belonging to the condition of a freedman'), from lībertus ('freedman'), from līber ('free'); the pejorative sense of 'licentious person' emerged in English around the late 16th century, influenced by its use by religious reformers like John Calvin to describe opponents of strict doctrine. Unlike a 'debauchee'—which implies a sodden, self-harming pursuit of pleasure—or a 'freethinker'—which denotes intellectual independence from dogma—the libertine's defiance is philosophical, a conscious rejection of constraint as a point of principle. It is the scent of wine on a silk cravat in a sunlit salon, the deliberate heresy whispered not in secret but in company, the carefully orchestrated scandal that is less an indulgence than a manifesto: a performance of freedom that questions whether true liberty can ever exist without first dismantling the stage.
Etymology
From Latin libertinus (“a freedman, prop. adj., of or belonging to the condition of a freedman”), from libertus (“a freedman”), from liber (“free”); see liberal, liberate.
noun
- Someone freed from slavery in Ancient Rome; a freedman.
- One who is freethinking in religious matters.
- Someone (especially a man) who takes no notice of moral laws, especially those involving sexual propriety; someone loose in morals; a pleasure-seeker.“So the truth of the matter is that a libertine in love, if indeed a libertine can be in love, becomes from that moment in less of a hurry to enjoy the pleasures of the flesh.”
adj
- Dissolute, licentious, profligate; loose in morals.
Words closest in meaning
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