libre
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libre
- /ˈliːbɹə/ UK
- /ˈlibɹə/ US
- /ˈliːbɹeɪ/ UK
- /ˈlibɹeɪ/ US
Sounds like Libra · Rhymes with -iːbɹə, -iːbɹeɪ
Where it comes from
The obsolete “unconstrained” sense is borrowed from French libre (“at liberty”; “free” as in “clear”, “vacant”, “without obligation”), from Latin līber (“free, unrestricted”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁lewdʰ- (“people”), whence obsolete English lede (“person(s)”), English leud, and German Leute.
The software and the unenslaved senses are either borrowed from the above French, or from its Spanish cognate libre, of the same meaning and Latin etymon.
adjective
- Especially of the will: free, independent, unconstrained. He [God] Adame lent a libre will to follow what he liſt, / And with his holy ſpirit, and grace his choſen dois aſſiſt: [...]
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With very few limitations on distribution or the right to access the source code to create improved versions, but not necessarily free of charge.
One more point leads toward Free Software in education: when students get jobs, they prefer to use tools they learned at school in order to minimize extra learning efforts. This fact should lead colleges to teach only those tools not owned by anyone—those that are libre.
Similar: free, free as in speech, free as in freedom
- Not enslaved (of a black person in a French- or Spanish-colonized area, especially New Orleans). For quotations using this term, see Citations:libre.
noun libres
- A free (not enslaved) black person in a French- or Spanish-colonized area, especially New Orleans. For quotations using this term, see Citations:libre.
Translations
Talk about this word "libre." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/libre. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. libre. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/libre "libre." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/libre.Cite this
@misc{libre_2026,
title = {libre},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/libre},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
