1291: liberal Jun 23, 2018

There are many words which have evolved over time to mean something completely opposite, and while in contronyms like 'peruse'—which meant to read thoroughly and now means to skim—are not very important, some are. One such word is 'aryan', discussed here before, but one with less baggage though still relevant is 'liberal'. The original sense of the word is still preserved in 'libertarian', and espoused the notion that all people are free to have their own ideas and opinions in spite of external conditions, which merely influence the individual. Indeed, many derivatives of the Latin 'liber' relate to individualism, however today the idea of 'a liberal' tends to evoke ideas of someone socially leftist, who would believe that there are systems in place which necessarily influence action and thought, whereas libertarians and others on the right are no longer called 'liberals', but use liberal ideas in the traditional sense.