freo

freo¹ free

Pronunciation

• /fre͜oː/^[1]

Forms

frēo (comparative frēora or friġra)^[1]

Etymology

The word for “free” is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *friu, a byform of *frī, from Proto-Germanic *frijaz (“free”).^[1][2] The Proto-Germanic adjective survives as Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌴𐌹𐍃 (freis), Old Frisian frī, Old Saxon frī and Old High German frī.^[2][3][4] Old Norse has only the compound Old Norse frjáls (“free”), a compound of the same adjective, which Old English shares in frēols.^[2]

Kroonen traces it to Proto-Indo-European *priH-o- and holds that “free” grew out of an older “related, one's own”, a shift that points to a society built on clans.^[2] Orel compares Welsh rhydd (“free”) and Latin proprius (“one's own”);^[3] Holthausen gives the same Welsh word.^[4] Köbler sets it under a root meaning “to like, to spare, to love”.^[5]

Hogg explains the variation within the paradigm: before a front vowel the old *w became *j, so that the genitive ⟨frīġes⟩ stands beside ⟨frēo⟩, and the two stems were often mixed, giving ⟨frēos⟩ and ⟨frīġum⟩ too.^[6] The spelling ⟨frēoh⟩ adds an ⟨h⟩ the word never had, by analogy with words such as fēoh, genitive ⟨fēos⟩.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first dated record is the Pastoral Care in Hatton 20, written 890×897, where the bishop is to withstand the wrongdoers mid freore & unforwandodlicre stefne “with a free and unflinching voice”.^[8][9] The same manuscript's preface speaks of sió gioguð ðe nú is on Angelcynne frióra monna, the young men of free birth now among the English.^[10]

Semantic evolution

The legal sense, a person who is not a slave, is the commonest in prose, and in the laws the adjective often stands alone for “a free man”, as in Æthelberht's Gif frig man freum stelð “if a free man steals from a free man”.^[11][10] From it come “exempt, not bound” (with the genitive of what one is free from), “at liberty, out of custody”, “free from work” and “innocent”.^[10] In the Old English Bede freora renders the Latin “liberalium” of the liberal arts.^[10] Glossators set it for Latin “liber” and “liberalis”.^[5]

Poetry adds “noble” and “glad”: freora bearna “of noble children” in Genesis, þy freoran hyge “the gladder mind” in Christ.^[12][13] The editors of Andreas read the plural at line 598 as “with all their liberties”.^[14]

The word lived on as Middle English fre, now English free.^[15][16]

Timeline

• 890×897 – mid freore & unforwandodlicre stefne in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20).^[8][9]
• s. x med. – nænne freone mon “no free man” in the Old English Boethius.^[17][9]
• s. x in. or xi¹ – ge freora ge cyriclicra “both liberal and church writings” in the Old English Bede (Tanner 10).^[18][9]
• s. x² – freora bearna “noble children” in Genesis in the Junius manuscript.^[19][12]

Meanings

Adjective

1. free, not a slave; having the rights of a free person.^[12][5]
2. exempt or released from an obligation, with the genitive; free from work.^[10]
3. at liberty, not in custody.^[10]
4. of studies: liberal.^[10]
5. (poetic) noble; glad, joyful.^[12][13]

Noun

1. a free man.^[1][11]

Word family

• frēodōm
• frēolīċ
• frēolīċe
• frēols
• frēobearn
• frēolǣta
• mūþfrēo

Descendants

• Middle English fre (→ English free; Middle Scots fre)^[1]

freo² woman

Pronunciation

• /fre͜oː/^[1]

Forms

frēo f, indeclinable^[1]

Etymology

The word for “woman” is of uncertain origin, and two explanations are offered.^[1] One explanation makes it inherited from Proto-Germanic *frijō (“loved one, wife”), of the same root as the adjective “free”;^[1] Köbler sets Old Saxon frī (“woman”) under this form,^[20] and Feist names the Old English and Old Saxon words for “woman” beside the adjective Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌴𐌹𐍃 (freis).^[21]

The other derives it from Proto-West Germanic *frauwjā, from Proto-Germanic *frawjǭ (“lady”), a feminine of *frawjô (“lord”), which gave frēa “lord”.^[1] That form is continued by Old Saxon frūa, Old High German frouwa and Old Norse freyja (“lady”).^[22][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is found in Genesis in the Junius manuscript (s. x² and xi¹), where Adam is found and his wif somed, freo fægroste “and his wife with him, the fairest of women”.^[19][9][12]

Semantic evolution

It is a poetic word, indeclinable, and Bosworth and Toller give it the Latin sense “mulier ingenua”, a freeborn woman.^[12] It left no descendants.^[1]

Timeline

• s. x² – freo fægroste in Genesis in the Junius manuscript.^[19][9]

Meanings

Noun

1. (poetic) a woman, a lady.^[12][1]