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Libʹertines

.

A sect of heretics in Holland, led by Quinton a factor, and Copin. They maintained that nothing is sinful but to those who think it sinful, and that perfect innocence is to live without doubt.

By a “libertine” is now generally meant a profligate, or one who puts no restraint on his personal indulgence.

“A libertine, in earlier use, was a speculative free-thinker in matters of religion and in the theory of morals … but [it has come] to signify a profligate.”—Trench: On the Study of Words, lecture iii. p. 90.

 

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

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Liar (The)
Libel
Liber Albus
Liber Niger or The Black Book of the Exchequer
Liberal Arts
Liberal Unionists or Tory Democrats
Liberal Unionists
Liberals
Liberator (The)
Liberia
Libertines
Liberty
Liberty
Libitina
Libra [the balance]
Library
Libya
Licentiate
Lich
Lichten
Lick