noun

liberation

lib-uh-RAY-shuhn/ˌlɪbəˈreɪʃn/

Release from a confining or controlling bond.

The prisoners celebrate their liberation after years behind locked doors.

A guard unlocks a chain from a prisoner’s wrists as the freed person steps through an open gate.

Etymology

The free root combines with an action-noun ending to name the act of bringing about freedom. The Latin noun already meant a setting or becoming free, closely matching release from restraint or confinement.

In context

Tariq Al-Olaimy6:32

I know that faith traditions that also birthed liberation movements sanctified colonial conquest.

The Spiritual Wisdom We Need for a Planet in Crisis | Tariq Al-Olaimy | TED

Big Think speaker3:40

This is probably the greatest liberation in human history, honestly, that women can now choose, whether to be with a man or not.

Are children the losers of the sexual revolution? | Richard Reeves, Judith Butler, & more

More examples

The movement fights for liberation from oppressive rule.
Paying off her debts gives her a sense of liberation.
Heating the mixture causes the liberation of gas.

Forms

liberation · liberations

liberate verb — To free from confinement or control.

liberator noun — Someone who frees others from oppressive control.

Similar words

release: Broader term for letting someone or something go.
emancipation: Especially freedom from slavery or legal restrictions on independence.