Etymologically
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frei

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Pronunciation

Forms

frei (strong nominative masculine singular freier, comparative freier, superlative am freiesten or am freisten)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German vrī, inherited from Old High German frī, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *frī, inherited from Proto-Germanic *frijaz (“free”).[2][1][3] The same word is Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌴𐌹𐍃 (freis), Old English frēo, Old Frisian frī and Old Saxon frīlīk (“free”), and today Dutch vrij and English free.[2][4][3] Old Norse has instead frjáls, which also appears in Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌴𐌹𐌷𐌰𐌻𐍃 (freihals, “freedom”), Old High German frīhals and Old English frēols: Kluge and Pfeifer explain it as a compound “whose neck is free”.[2][4][3]

The Germanic adjective matches Welsh rhydd (“free”), which must be an inherited cognate.[2][4] In the other languages the Indo-European adjective meant “own”, then “dear”: Sanskrit प्रिय (priyá, “own, dear”), Latin proprius (“own”), and with the verb Old Church Slavonic приꙗти (prijati, “to be favourable, help”).[2][4][5] Kroonen and Wiktionary reconstruct Proto-Indo-European *priHós (“beloved”);[3][1] Kluge traces it further to Proto-Indo-European *per(ə)i- (“near, by”), Pfeifer and the Duden to Proto-Indo-European *prāi- (“to like, spare”).[2][4][5] The same root gives Freund, Friede, freien and Freitag.[4][5]

Only Germanic and Celtic developed the sense “free”.[2][4] Pfeifer, the Duden and Paul explain it from “belonging to those one loves and protects”, the members of one's own kin, as against the unfree, who were captives and strangers.[4][5][6] Kroonen sees in it a society based on clans.[3] Kluge thinks rather of phrases such as “one's own children”, used where inheritance mattered.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German frī is first recorded in the Würzburg boundary description at the end of the 8th century, which speaks of friero Franchono erbi “the inheritance of free Franks”.[7][8] It then appears in the Tatian, the Benedictine Rule, the Murbach Hymns and Notker, meaning “free, free-born, freed”.[9][10]

Semantic evolution

The word was first a term of rank, opposed to the various kinds of unfree people, among whom were prisoners of war.[6][7] Later the contrast with captivity came to the fore, as in auf freien Fuß setzen, recorded in 1659.[6] From the rank came political independence, as in Freie Stadt and Freistaat (1768), and then the absence of any constraint.[6][4] The saying Die Gedanken sind frei already occurs in Middle High German, as gedanke sint vrî in Walther von der Vogelweide.[11][6] Already in Middle High German the word could also be negative, “impudent, shameless”.[6]

Middle High German vrīheit meant also “privilege” and “privileged district”, and Middle High German vrīlīche “unhindered, frankly” gave the modern adverb freilich “certainly”.[4][5] Several compounds were modelled on English: Freidenker (18th century) after freethinker, Freimaurer (18th century) after freemason, and Freihandel (19th century) after free trade.[4] Modern German also uses -frei as a suffix-like element, as in koffeinfrei.[2] In eastern Switzerland the word still meant “dear, friendly”.[10]

Timeline

  • End of the 8th century – Old High German frī appears in the Würzburg boundary description.[7]
  • 9th century – The adjective frīlīh is recorded.[4]
  • Around 1000 – frīheit is used by Notker.[4]
  • 14th century – freier Geist is used for a heretic.[4]
  • 16th century – Freibeuter “freebooter” appears.[4]
  • 1659 – auff freye fueß gestellt is recorded.[6]
  • 1768 – Freistaat “republic” is recorded.[4]
  • 18th century – Freidenker and Freimaurer are formed after English.[4]
  • 19th century – Freihandel is formed after English free trade.[4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. free, independent, not bound: ein freier Mitarbeiter “a freelancer”.[12][1]
  2. Without aids or a model: frei sprechen “to speak without notes”, eine freie Übersetzung.[12]
  3. Not bound by convention: die freie Liebe.[12]
  4. (chemistry, physics) Not bound: freie Elektronen.[12]
  5. Unhindered, unrestricted: freie Wahlen.[12][1]
  6. Not imprisoned: auf freiem Fuß sein.[12][1]
  7. Open, uncovered: unter freiem Himmel.[12]
  8. vacant, unoccupied, available: Ist der Platz noch frei?[12][1]
  9. Free of charge, gratis: Eintritt frei.[12][1]
  10. (football) Unmarked.[12]
  11. (with von) Free of, without: frei von Sorgen.[1][13]

Word family

  • befreien
  • Befreiung
  • Freiheit
  • freilich
  • freimütig
  • Freimut
  • freiwillig
  • -frei
  • Freibeuter
  • Freibrief
  • Freidenker
  • Freigeist
  • Freihandel
  • Freiherr
  • Freimaurer
  • Freistaat
  • Freizeit
  • vogelfrei

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 315
  3. ^ a b c d e Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
  5. ^ a b c d e Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
  7. ^ a b c Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob Grimm und Wilhelm Grimm, Neubearbeitung (1965–2018), ed. Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften and Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, 9 vols. (A–F), Leipzig / Stuttgart: Hirzel, p. 9, 909
  8. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  9. ^ Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 113
  10. ^ a b Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. 3, 555
  11. ^ Lexer, Matthias (1872–1878), Mittelhochdeutsches Handwörterbuch, 3 vols., Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 3, 507
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  13. ^ Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org