Libs

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Informal shorthand for people holding liberal political views ; a casual abbreviation for the buildings holding collections of books and other materials
2. Casual slang for political liberals ; a clipped informal name for public or academic book collections housed in buildings
3. Informal references to supporters of liberal causes ; chatty abbreviations for the places where books are borrowed and read

Etymology: "Libs" is a form of "lib," a clipping of words beginning with "lib-," most often "liberal" or "liberation." Clipping is the process of cutting a longer word down to a short, familiar piece, and "lib" follows that pattern. It is most familiar in "women's lib," which is short for "women's liberation." The core word is the Latin "liberalis," meaning "befitting a free person," from "liber," "free." English took "liberal" for generosity and open-mindedness long before it applied it to politics. Its political sense came later, and the clipped "lib" followed the politics, so "libs" for supporters of liberal causes is a shorthand built on that political usage.