libertine
Noun · AdjectiveOpen English WordNet
Noun (1)
Adjective (1)
- unrestrained by convention or morality“Congreve draws a debauched aristocratic society”“deplorably dissipated and degraded”“riotous living”“fast women”Synonyms: debaucheddegeneratedegradeddissipateddissoluteprofligateriotousfastOpposite moralSimilar immoral
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Origin: L. libertinus freedman, from libertus one made free, fr. liber free: cf. F. libertin. See Liberal.
1. Roman antiquity A manumitted slave; a freedman; also, the son of a freedman.
2. Eccl. Hist. One of a sect of Anabaptists, in the fifteenth and early part of the sixteenth century, who rejected many of the customs and decencies of life, and advocated a community of goods and of women.
3. One free from restraint; one who acts according to his impulses and desires; now, specifically, one who gives rein to lust; a rake; a debauchee.
Like a puffed and reckless libertine, Himself the primrose path of dalliance treads.— William Shakespeare
4. A defamatory name for a freethinker. Obsolescent
Origin: L. libertinus of a freedman: cf. F. libertin. See Libertine, noun
1. Free from restraint; uncontrolled. obsolete
You are too much libertine.— Francis, & Fletcher, John. Beaumont
2. Dissolute; licentious; profligate; loose in morals; as, libertine principles or manners. Francis, Baron Verulam Bacon
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54