"That's a great deal to make one word mean," Alice said in a thoughtful tone. "When I make a word do a lot of work like that," said Humpty Dumpty, "I always pay it extra."

Saturday, 12 January 2013

Libertine

The modern meaning of the word libertine is a man (rarely a woman) not bound by moral laws; someone of licentious habits.  It has had this meaning since 1593. 

At one time it also meant a free-thinker, a man not aligned to a particular religion.  In relation to Roman times it means a freedman, a person manumitted from slavery or the son if a freedman. 

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