liberal arts
noun/ˌlɪbərəl ˈɑːts/
/ˌlɪbərəl ˈɑːrts/
[plural] (especially North American English)- subjects of study that develop students’ general knowledge and ability to think, rather than their technical skills
- a liberal arts college
Oxford Collocations DictionaryLiberal arts is used before these nouns:- college
Word Originliberal, as distinct from servile or mechanical (i.e. involving manual labour) and originally referring to arts and sciences considered “worthy of a free man”; later the word related to general intellectual development rather than vocational training.Definitions on the go
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liberal arts