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Glite Dictionary
Liberal Party

Liberal Party

3 3.2
A political party that supports individual rights and free markets
  • proper noun
  • Australian
translation icon : Partido Liberal
  • In 2002, the Chretien administration enjoyed strong support from the Liberal Party, which had held the governing majority since 1993.
  • Liberal Party of Canada
  • supporters of the Liberal Party
  • Liberal Party leader

Examples

  • In 1975, he was elected to the Ontario Legislature and won the leadership of the Ontario Liberal Party in 1976.

    Academic text (1995)

  • The two of them went to a Liberal Party meeting at the Manchester Free Trade Hall where Sir Edward Gray was speaking.

  • In November, the center-right Liberal Party ended more than seven decades.

    Academic text (2007)

  • Despite his popularity, Zelaya was isolated even from his own Liberal Party.

    Academic text (2011)

  • Even the conservative Liberal Party government of Malcolm Fraser offered better terms of support than had existed previously.

    Academic text (1991)

  • Despite the scandal around Samper and Serpa's loss to Pastrana, the Liberal Party remains in a strong position.

    Academic text (2000)

  • Martin was the runner-up to Chretien in the Liberal Party's contentious leadership race in 1990.

    Academic text (2017)

  • The electoral victory of Jean Chrétien and the Liberal Party in October 1993 again placed ratification in jeopardy.

    Academic text (2005)

  • During the last election, the Liberal Party campaigned vigorously on issues of individual rights and free markets.

  • The Liberal Party has been a significant political force in Canada, advocating for progressive policies.

Surface Forms

Liberal Party main

Morphology

liberal + party

The meaning is directly compositional: 'liberal' (supporting liberal principles) combined with 'party' (a political organization) yields 'a political party that advocates liberal policies.' This noun-noun combination is cross-linguistically common (e.g., Partido Liberal, Parti libéral) and therefore a B1 learner who knows both constituents can infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Liberal Party comes from the word liberal, which once meant 'free' or 'generous', and the word party for a political group. Groups that wanted more personal freedom and open markets called themselves the Liberal Party, so the name shows they stand for 'individual rights' and 'free markets'.