CIVIL LIBERTY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does civil liberty mean? 

• CIVIL LIBERTY (noun)
  The noun CIVIL LIBERTY has 2 senses:

1. one's freedom to exercise one's rights as guaranteed under the laws of the country

2. fundamental individual right protected by law and expressed as immunity from unwarranted governmental interference

  Familiarity information: CIVIL LIBERTY used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CIVIL LIBERTY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

One's freedom to exercise one's rights as guaranteed under the laws of the country

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

civil liberty; political liberty

Hypernyms ("civil liberty" is a kind of...):

freedom (the condition of being free; the power to act or speak or think without externally imposed restraints)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Fundamental individual right protected by law and expressed as immunity from unwarranted governmental interference

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("civil liberty" is a kind of...):

civil right (right or rights belonging to a person by reason of citizenship including especially the fundamental freedoms and privileges guaranteed by the 13th and 14th amendments and subsequent acts of Congress including the right to legal and social and economic equality)

Domain category:

jurisprudence; law (the collection of rules imposed by authority)

Derivation:

civil-libertarian (having or showing active concern for protection of civil liberties protected by law)