Liberty Enlightening the World
Preserved but no longer current.
The colossal statue standing on Bedloe's (or Liberty) Island, at the entrance of New York Harbour, presented to the American people by France in commemoration of the centenary of the American Declaration of Independence, and inaugurated in 1886. It is of bronze, 155 ft. in height (standing on a pedestal 135 ft. high), and represents a woman, draped, and holding a lighted torch in her upraised hand.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Liberty Enlightening the World” mean?
The colossal statue standing on Bedloe's (or Liberty) Island, at the entrance of New York Harbour, presented to the American people by France in commemoration of the centenary of the American Declaration of Independence, and inaugurated in 1886. It is of bronze, 155 ft. in height (standing on a pedestal 135 ft. high), and represents a woman, draped, and holding a lighted torch in her upraised hand.
Is “Liberty Enlightening the World” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.