liberty 
move); within the city liberty; the Northern 
Liberties (a part of Philadelphia so named be- 
cause originally consisting of districts having 
certain specific privileges). 
We had told him that, if ours [our vessels] did trade 
within his liberties, they should do it at their own peril. 
Winthrop, Hist. New England, II. 377. 
Yet there are no people in the Liberty of Westminster 
that live in more credit than we do. 
F oote, The Commissary, i. 
We dropt with evening on a rustic town 
Set in a gleaming river's crescent-curve, 
Close at the boundary of the liberties. 
Tennyson, Princess, i. 
8. Action or speech not warranted by custom 
or propriety; freedom not specially granted; 
freedom of action or speech beyond the ordi- 
nary bounds of civility or decorum: as, may I 
take the liberty of calling on you? 
This headstrong writer came ; who, with a new-found art, 
Made following authors take less liberty. 
Dryden and Soame, tr. of Horace's Art of Poetry, i. 130. 
This Liberty of your Tongue will one Day bring a Con- 
finement on your Body. Congreve, Love for Love, i. 3. 
Acres. I never saw him in my life. 
Sir Luc. That's no argument at all he has the less right 
then to take such a liberty. Sheridan, The Rivals, iii. 4. 
He was repeatedly provoked into striking those who had 
taken liberties with him. " 
9. In the manege, a curve or arch in a horse's 
bit affording room for the tongue. At liberty, 
(a) Free from constraint; free: as,tosetaperson(ttK6erty. 
And yet within these five hours lived Lord Hastings, 
Untainted, unexamined, free, at liberty. 
Shak., Rich. III., iii. 6. 9. 
(6) With freedom or power (to do something) : as, he was 
not ni liberty to disclose the secret. 
I took one of the janizaries of the place, and paid him 
the usual Tribute, and found myself at perfect liberty to 
do what I pleased. Pococke, Description of the East, I. 9. 
(c) Disengaged ; not in use. 
I dressed as well as I could for shivering, and washed 
when there was a basin at liberty. 
Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre, v. 
Cap Of Liberty. Seecapl and liberty-cap. Civil liberty. 
See civil, and def. 3, above. Forest liberties, Galilean 
liberties, Jailliberties. See thequalifying words. Lib- 
erties' Union Act, an English statute of 1850 (13 and U 
Viet., c. 105), providing for the incorporation of liberties 
with the counties in which they are situated. Liberty 
hall. See hall. Liberty of indifference. See quotation 
from Fleming under def. 1, and indifference. Liberty Of 
the press, freedom of the press from police restrictioas of 
the right to print and publish; liberty to print and publish 
without previous permission from government. Liberty of 
the press is deemed to exist where the only restrictions on 
the right of publishing are amenability to judicial process 
for damages, or to punishment, after making an actionable 
or criminal publication, and amenability to judicial process 
to prevent intended publication on proof that it is i n j urious 
to rights of privateproperty. Liberty party.in U. S.hist., 
a political party whose leading principle was the abolition 
of slavery. It arose about 1839, and nominated a candidate 
for President in 1840 and in 1844. From 1848 its members 
generally acted with the Free-soil and later with the Re- 
publican party. Natural liberty, the power of acting 
as one thinks fit, without any restraint or control, unless by 
the law of nature. Blackstone. [Many writers, however, 
use natural liberty in the sense ascribed to civil liberty.} 
Personal liberty, freedom from restraint of the person. 
Political liberty, freedom from political usurpation ; the 
condition of a people which participates in the making 
of its own laws, in a state which is not subject to foreign 
domination. Religious liberty, the right of freely adopt- 
ing and professing opinions on religious subjects, and of 
worshiping or refraining from worship according to the 
dictates of conscience, without external control. To 
break liberty. See break. =Syn. Independence, etc. (see 
freedom) ; License, etc. (see leaved, n.). 
liberty-book (lib'er-ti-buk), n. A book on a 
man-of-war which shows the length of liberty 
allowed, the time of returning, and the condi- 
tion in which the man returned. Luce. 
liberty-cap (lib'er-ti-kap), n. A cap of the 
form known as the Phrygian, used as a symbol 
of political or personal liberty. The custom is 
taken from the supposed use of this cap as a token of the 
manumission of a slave in Rome. The red cap of the 
French extreme revolutionists (see bonnet-rouge) was iden- 
tified with the Roman cap of liberty, which accordingly 
became the symbol of the French revolution. 
liberty-man (lib'er-ti-man), n. Naut., a sailor 
who has leave to go ashore ; one who has been 
allowed a period of liberty for recreation. 
It is a point with liberty-men to be pulled off and back 
by their shipmates. 
R. H. Dana, Jr., Before the Mast, p. 147. 
liberty-pole (lib'er-ti-pol), n. A tall flagstaff 
set up in honor of liberty, usually surmounted 
with the liberty-cap or other symbol of liberty. 
The soldiers openly insulted the people, and in a few 
weeks cut down their liberty-pole. 
Preblc, Hist, of the Flag, p. 193. 
libethenite (li-beth'en-It), n. [< Libetheu (see 
def.) + -ite?.] The basic phosphate of copper, 
a mineral first found at Libethen in Hungary, 
3434 
having an olive-green color and crystallizing 
in the orthorhombic system. It is isomorphous 
with olivenite. 
libidinist (li-bid'i-nist), n. [< L. libido (libi- 
din-), desire (see libidinous), + -ist.] One who 
is given to lewdness. [Bare.] 
Nero, being monstrous incontinent himself, verily be- 
lieved that all men were most foul libidiniste. 
F. Junius, Sin Stigmatized (1639), p. 350. 
libidinosity (li-bid-i-nos'i-ti), n. [< F. libidino- 
siie; as libidinous + -ity'.] The state or char- 
acter of being libidinous ; libidinousness. 
libidinous (li-bid'i-nus), a. [< F. libidineux = 
Sp. Pg. It. libidittoso, < L. libidinostts, lubidino- 
sus, full of desire, passion, or appetite, lascivi- 
ous, < libido, lubido (libidin-, lubidin-), desire, 
< libet, lubet, it pleases: see liberal.'] Charac- 
terized by lust or lewdness ; having or arising 
from an eager appetite for sexual indulgence ; 
lustful; lewd; also, fitted to excite lustful de- 
sire. 
It is not love, but strong libidinous will. 
That triumphs o'er me. 
Beau. andFl., Knight of Malta, 1. 1. 
=Syn. Prurient, concupiscent See list under lascivious. 
libidinously (li-bid'i-nus-li), adv. In a libid- 
inous manner ; with lewd desire ; lustfully ; 
lewdly. 
libidinousness (li-bid'i-nus-nes), n. The state 
or quality of being libidinous ; lustfulness ; 
lewdness. 
libkent, libkint, . [Appar. < livei ('lib) + 
ten 6 .] A house ; lodgings. [Old slang.] 
To their libldns at the crackman's. 
/>'. Jonson, Gipsies Metamorphosed. 
These are the fees that I always charge a swell that must 
have his lib-ken to himsell thirty shillings a-week for 
lodgings, and a guinea for garnish ; half-a-guinea a-week 
for a single bed. Scott, Guy Mauneriug, xliv. 
liblongt, n. An obsolete form of livelong 2 . Cot- 
grave. 
Libocedrus (li-bo-se'drus), n. [NL. (Endlicher, 
1847) ; the first element is not obvious ; the sec- 
ond is Gr. KeSpof, the cedar : see cedar.] A ge- 
nus of coniferous trees of the tribe Cupressinew. 
It is closely related to Thuja, the arbor-vita, but distin- 
guished from it by having only two fertile scales in the 
cone, and seeds united at the top. There are eight species, 
natives of Chili, California, China, Japan, New Zealand, 
and New Caledonia. L. decurrens, the North American 
species, called white cedar, bastard cedar, post-cedar, and 
incense-cedar, is a large tree, sometimes 150 feet in height, 
ranging from Oregon to Mexico, with light, soft, durable 
wood. (See incense-cedar.) L. Chilensis is the Chilian 
arbor- vita or alerce-tree. 
libra (li'brji), . [< L. libra, a balance, a Roman 
ppund(see 'liure); cf.Gr./Ur/Mz,apound(see liter). 
Hence ult. livre, libella, level 1 , etc.] 1. [cap.'] 
An ancient zodiacal constellation, representing 
an ordinary pair of scales. This constellation was not 
commonly used among the Greeks, its place being occu- 
pied by the Chelae, or Scorpion's Claws. It is found, how- 
ever, in all the Egyptian zodiacs, going back to 600 B. c.; 
but there is reason to believe that it is not as old as the rest 
of the zodiac (that is, 2,000 years or more B. c.). Its prin- 
cipal stars, Kiffa borealis and Kilfa australis, 2.7 and 3.0 
magnitude respectively, are at the base of an isosceles 
triangle of which Antares forms the vertex. 
2. [cap.] The seventh sign of the zodiac, repre- 
sentedbythe character^, whichshowsthe scale- 
beam. 3. An Italian or Spanish pound. The 
Roman pound was 327 grams or 5,046 grains troy, and the 
Italian light-weight pounds seem to be derived from it, 
their heavy weights having another origin, as is shown in 
the following table : 
Libra. Grains. Libra. Grains. 
Grossa of Milan.... 11,776.7 Rome 6,234.0 
Piccola of Milan . . . 6,046.6 Messina 4,923.7 
Naples 4,949.1 Tuscany 6,240.5 
Piedmont. 5,692.6 Grossa of Venice. . . 7,863.0 
Ragusa 6,772.7 Sattile of Venice . . . 4,649.5 
All these statements are taken from the work of the Rus- 
sian Commission, and differ in some cases from Italian 
official figures. The Castilian libra was 7,101 grains ; that 
of Portugal was 7,083.3 grains. 
libral (II ' bral), a. [< L. libralis, of a pound 
weight, < libra, a pound: see libra.] Of or per- 
taining to a Roman libra or pound: as, the 
libral as, a Roman bronze coin weighing one 
pound or 12 ounces (compare as*); the libral 
system, the Roman monetary system based on 
the libra or pound. 
librarian (ll-bra'ri-an), . [In def. 1, < L. K- 
brarius, a transcriber of books, also a booksell- 
er (> It. librajo = Sp. librero = Pg. livreiro, a 
bookseller, = OF. libraire, a bookseller, tran- 
scriber, a writer of books, F. libraire, a book- 
seller), < librarius, belonging to books: see li- 
brary. In def. 2 as if directly < library + -an.] 
If. One who transcribes or copies books. 
Charybdis thrice swallows, and thrice refunds, the 
waves : this must be understood of regular tides. There 
are indeed but two tides in a day, but this is the error of 
the librarian. Srootne, Notes on the Odyssey. 
libration 
2. The keeper or custodian of a library; one 
who has charge of the books and other contents 
of a library. 
librarianship (li-bra'ri-an-ship), n. [< libra- 
rian + -ship.] 1. The office of librarian. 2. 
The work of a librarian ; the management of a 
library. 
A very good basis for his modest plea for the recogni- 
tion of librarianship as one of the learned professions. 
Science, VIII. 70. 
library (li'bra-ri), .; pi. libraries (-riz). [< 
ME. librarie, <! OF. Ukraine, librarie, libraire, 
a bookseller's shop, a bookcase, a library, F. 
librairie = Pr. librari = Sp. libreria (after F.) = 
Pg. livraria= It. libreria (after F.), a booksell- 
er's shop, bookselling, also, in imprints, a pub- 
lication-office, < L. libraria, a bookseller's shop, 
ML. a library, cf. L. librarium, a bookcase, fern. 
and neut. respectively of librarius, belonging to 
books, < liber, a book: see liber 1 . For the Rom. 
word for ' library' in the usual E. sense, see bib- 
liotheca.] 1. A place set apart for the keeping 
and use of books and other literary material ; a 
room, set of rooms, or a building in which a 
collection of books for reading or study is kept. 
His library (where busts of poets dead 
And a true Pindar stood without a head) 
Received of wits an undistinguished race. 
Pope, Prol. to Satires, 1. 235. 
2. A collection of books, whether manuscript 
or printed, which may include also pamphlets, 
maps, and other literary material, intended for 
reading, study, or reference, as distinguished 
from a bookseller's stock, which is intended for 
sale. Libraries are of different kinds and classes accord- 
ing to the tastes of their owners, the readers for whom they 
are designed, their contents, and the manner in which they 
may be used, as private, public, special or professional, 
general, consulting or circulating, etc. 
Knowing I loved my books, he fumish'd me 
From mine own library with volumes that 
I prize above my dukedom. 
Shak., Tempest, i. 2. 167. 
Alexandrian library, a library at Alexandria (see Alex- 
andrian), destroyed about 47 B. c. A supplementary or 
second library was in the Serapeum. This library (accord- 
ing to some writers who discredit its sacking by the Arabs) 
was entirely destroyed under Theophilus, A. D. 39L Atn- 
brosian, Cottonian, Laurentian, etc., library. See 
the adjectives. Circulating library, (a) A library the 
books of which circulate among the subscribers: distin- 
guished from a consulting or reference library, where hooks 
may be consulted, but from which they may not be taken 
away. (6) Specifically, a collection or stock of books kept 
exclusively for lending out, as a private enterprise, either 
for a fixed payment on each or for a periodical subscription. 
library-keeper (li'bra-ri-ke'per), n. The cus- 
todian of a library : formerly used for the now 
current librarian, 2. 
librate 1 (li'brat), v.; pret. and pp. librated, ppr. 
librating. [< L. libratus, pp. of librare, poise, 
weigh, balance, < libra, a balance: see libra.] 
I. trans. To hold in equipoise; poise; balance. 
II. intrans. To move as a balance ; be poised. 
The birds of the air librating over me served as a can- 
opy from the rays of the sun. Bedford, Vathek, p. 193. 
librate 2 (li'brat), . [< ML. librata, the value 
of a pound (librata terra, appar. orig. a piece 
of land producing an annual rent of one pound), 
< L. libra, a pound: see libra.] 1. Land of the 
annual value of one pound. 2. A piece of land 
containing 4 oxgangs of 13 acres each. Min- 
sheu; Bailey. 
The sheriffs were ordered to send [to a provincial coun- 
cil] all persons who possessed more than twenty librates 
of land. Stubbs, Const. Hist., 179. 
libration (11-bra'shon), n. [< F. libration = Sp. 
libracion = Pg. libraqSo = It. librazione, < L. 
libratio(n-), a poising, < librare, pp. libratus, 
poise: see librate^.] 1. The act of librating or 
balancing, or the state of being balanced; a 
state of equipoise; balance. 2. In astron., a 
real or apparent libratory or oscillating mo- 
tion, like that of a balance before coming to 
rest Libration of the earth, a phrase used by some 
of the older astronomers to describe that feature of the 
earth's motion by which, while it revolves in its orbit, 
its axis constantly continues parallel to itself. Li- 
bration Of the moon, an apparent irregularity of 
the moon's motion, whereby those parts very near the 
border of the lunar disk alternately become visible and 
invisible, indicating, as it were, a sort of vibratory motion 
of the lunar globe. The libration of the moon is of three 
kinds : (a) libration in longitude, or a seeming vibratory 
motion according to the order of the signs, due to the fact 
that the angular motion of the moon in her orbit is not 
precisely uniform, as her rotation about her axis is ; (6) 
libration in latitude, in consequence of her axis being in- 
clined to the plane of her orbit, so that sometimes one of 
her poles and sometimes the other declines, as it were, or 
dips toward the earth ; (c) diurnal libration, which is sim- 
ply a consequence of the lunar parallax. In the last case, 
an observer at the surface of the earth perceives points 
near the upper edge of the moon's disk, at the time of her 
