liberalism
/ˈlɪ.b(ə.)ɹə.lɪz.əm/noun
liberalism is spelled L-I-B-E-R-A-L-I-S-M: 10 letters and 5 syllables. It appears 3.2 times per million words in written English, the 14,928th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, liberalism means “The quality of being liberal” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of liberalism is liberalisms.
How many letters and syllables are in liberalism?
| Letters | 10: L-I-B-E-R-A-L-I-S-M |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 5 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.2 times per million words; the 14,928th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is liberalism?
Liberalism appears 3.2 times per million words in written English, the 14,928th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce liberalism?
- /ˈlɪ.b(ə.)ɹə.lɪz.əm/
Liberalism has 5 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-liberalism.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of liberalism
- liberalisms plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does liberalism mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The quality of being liberal.
- 2
Any political movement founded on the autonomy and personal freedom of the individual, progress and reform, and government by law with the consent of the governed.
- 3
An economic ideology in favour of laissez faire and the free market (related to economic liberalism).
- 4
A school of international relations that emphasises cooperation (such as trade) between polities, as an alternative to power politics, and the geopolitically transformative role of democratisation, as opposed to inherent structural material factors.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Liberalism in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense quality of being liberal:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | libéralisme |
| German | Liberalismus |
| Portuguese | liberalismo |
| Spanish | liberalismo |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does liberalism come from?
Circa 1819, from French libéralisme circa 1818. Equivalent to liberal + -ism.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).