Meanings
- pluralplural onlyThe academic course of instruction intended to provide general knowledge and usually comprising the arts, humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences, as opposed to professional or technical subjects.
Antonyms: artes mechanicae, artes serviles, mechanical arts, servile arts
- pluralplural onlyThe trivium and the quadrivium.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe academic course of instruction intended to provide general knowledge and usually comprising the arts, humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences, as opposed to professional or technical subjects.
More synonyms by meaning
nounstudies intended to provide general knowledge and intellectual skills (rather than occupational or professional skills)
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinartēs līberālēs
- Englishliberal arts
Calque of Latin artēs līberālēs.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 通識教育 /通识教育, 博雅教育
- 通識教育 /通识教育 (tōngshí jiàoyù)academic course of instruction intended to provide general knowledge
- 博雅教育 (bóyǎ jiàoyù)academic course of instruction intended to provide general knowledge
- 三艺四术the trivium and the quadrivium
Czech svobodná umění
- svobodná uměníthe trivium and the quadrivium
Finnish vapaat taiteet, vapaat taiteet
- vapaat taiteetacademic course of instruction intended to provide general knowledge
- vapaat taiteetthe trivium and the quadrivium
- vapaat taidotthe trivium and the quadrivium
French arts libéraux
- arts libérauxacademic course of instruction intended to provide general knowledge
Greek ελευθέριες τέχνες
- ελευθέριες τέχνες (elefthéries téchnes)academic course of instruction intended to provide general knowledge
Hungarian bölcsészet, bölcsészettudomány
- bölcsészetacademic course of instruction intended to provide general knowledge
- bölcsészettudományacademic course of instruction intended to provide general knowledge
- általános műveltséget oktató tudományokacademic course of instruction intended to provide general knowledge
- hét szabad művészet/mesterségthe trivium and the quadrivium
Indonesian studi humanitas
- studi humanitasacademic course of instruction intended to provide general knowledge
Latin artes liberales
- artes liberalesacademic course of instruction intended to provide general knowledge
Malay sastera liberal, seni liberal
- sastera liberalacademic course of instruction intended to provide general knowledge
- seni liberalacademic course of instruction intended to provide general knowledge
Polish sztuki wyzwolone, sztuki wyzwolone
- sztuki wyzwoloneacademic course of instruction intended to provide general knowledge
- sztuki wyzwolonethe trivium and the quadrivium
Romanian arte liberale
- arte liberaleacademic course of instruction intended to provide general knowledge
Spanish artes liberales
- artes liberalesacademic course of instruction intended to provide general knowledge
Swedish de fria konsterna
- de fria konsternaacademic course of instruction intended to provide general knowledge
Tagalog malayang sining
- malayang siningacademic course of instruction intended to provide general knowledge
Thai ศิลปศาสตร์
- ศิลปศาสตร์ (sǐn-lá-bpà-sàat)academic course of instruction intended to provide general knowledge
Turkish liberal sanatlar, özgür sanatlar
- liberal sanatlaracademic course of instruction intended to provide general knowledge
- özgür sanatlaracademic course of instruction intended to provide general knowledge
Cite this entry
liberal arts. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/liberal%20arts
“liberal arts.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/liberal%20arts. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “liberal arts,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/liberal%20arts.
Source: liberal arts on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.