Meanings
liberal; permissive; allowing personal freedoms
Seine Eltern waren streng katholische Kirchgänger, aber liberal gegenüber ihren Kindern.His parents were strict Catholic church-goers, but were liberal towards their children.
libertarian; liberal in the traditional sense (see usage notes below)
Die FDP ist die wichtigste liberale Partei in Deutschland.The FDP is Germany’s most important libertarian party.
Examples
GermanEnglish
Mary ist liberal.Mary's liberal.
Die Herausgeber der Zeitung sind sehr liberal.The publishers of that newspaper are very liberal.