liberum veto

noun

A parliamentary rule in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, allowing any dissenting member of the legislature to force an immediate end to the current session and nullify any legislation that had already been passed.

“The US, Russia, UK, France, and China have liberum veto power in the UN Security Council, allowing them to shield themselves and their allies from UN oversight.”

OriginPolish liberum veto →
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Meanings

noun
  1. historicalgovernmentA parliamentary rule in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, allowing any dissenting member of the legislature to force an immediate end to the current session and nullify any legislation that had already been passed.
  2. broadlyAny system in which a single dissenting member can unilaterally block an action.

    The US, Russia, UK, France, and China have liberum veto power in the UN Security Council, allowing them to shield themselves and their allies from UN oversight.

Origin

  1. Polishliberum veto
  2. Englishliberum veto

Borrowed from Polish liberum veto.

More words from Polish

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Polish liberum veto
  • liberum vetoparliamentary rule
Cite this entry
APA

liberum veto. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/liberum%20veto

MLA

“liberum veto.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/liberum%20veto. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “liberum veto,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/liberum%20veto.

Source: liberum veto on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.