Like 'democracy', 'anarchy', 'liberalism is a word we bandy about without having a clue about what it means.
As it so happens, there is no one definition of liberalism. However, liberal thought and philosophy have been built up, in layers, over the last century.
It has not progressed in a straight line, but there are tangled webs that have been woven together, resulting in different interpretations of the word.
Michael Freeden's excellent book does a magnificent job in helping us understand the various strands, and the current state of the word.

Read this book, ( )