LIBERTINE • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Libertine

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/lˈɪbərtˌin/ Listen

noun

Libertine n.

1.

(Rom. Antiq.) 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."

4.

A defamatory name for a freethinker. (Obsolescent)

adjective

Libertine adj.

1.

Free from restraint; uncontrolled. (Obs.) "You are too much libertine."

2.

Dissolute; licentious; profligate; loose in morals; as, libertine principles or manners.

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Etymology of 'Libertine'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Libertine" Quotes from Famous Books

... subjects. Clearness and propriety of style are the chief excellencies of Hobbes's writings. In his own person, he is represented to have been a man of virtue; a character nowise surprising, notwithstanding his libertine system of ethics. Timidity is the principal fault with which he is reproached; he lived to an extreme old age, yet could never reconcile himself to the thoughts of death. The boldness of his opinions and sentiments form a remarkable contrast to this ...

— The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.I., Part E. - From Charles I. to Cromwell • David Hume

... letter. In which her cousin (swayed by the representations of her brother) pleads in behalf of Solmes, and the family-views; and sets before her, in strong and just lights, the character of a libertine. ...

— Clarissa, Volume 4 (of 9) - History Of A Young Lady • Samuel Richardson

... does your insolence dumfound me," she retorted, with crimson cheeks. "Do you forget, sir, that I know you for what you are—a gamester, a libertine, a duellist, the murderer of ...

— The Suitors of Yvonne • Raphael Sabatini

... offered to share his throne, as well as his heart, with the woman whose beauty of person and dignity of character seemed so well to entitle her to both. The marriage was privately celebrated at Grafton:[**] the secret was carefully kept for some time: no one suspected that so libertine a prince could sacrifice so much to a romantic passion; and there were, in particular, strong reasons, which, at that time, rendered this step, to the ...

— The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.I., Part B. - From Henry III. to Richard III. • David Hume

... eyes kindling with passion. "Who was the bold libertine, before whose unlicensed gaze you blushed and trembled, not with indignation, such as a pure and innocent woman ought to feel; but with the bashful confusion the veteran roue delights to behold? Who ...

— Ernest Linwood - or, The Inner Life of the Author • Caroline Lee Hentz

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