Etymologically
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /friː/[1]

Etymology

The adjective is inherited from Middle English fre,[2][3][4] inherited from Old English frēo (“not in bondage; exempt; also noble, joyful”),[4][3][5] from Proto-Germanic *frijaz (“beloved; not in bondage”),[3][4][6] from Proto-Indo-European *priy-a- (“dear, beloved”), from the root *pri- (“to love”).[4][7][8] Its Germanic cognates include Old Frisian frī, Old Saxon frī, Dutch vrij, Old High German frī (modern German frei), Old Norse frjáls and Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌴𐌹𐍃 (freis);[3][4][9] outside Germanic it is related to Welsh rhydd (“free”), Ancient Greek πρᾱΰς (prāÿ́s, “gentle, mild”) and Sanskrit प्रिय (priyá, “dear, beloved”).[10][9][6] The verb is inherited from Middle English freen, from Old English frēogan, frēon (“to free; to love”),[2][3][4] which is cognate with Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌹𐌾𐍉𐌽 (frijōn, “to love”) and Old Norse frjá (“to love”).[3][9] The word is related to friend and Friday.[6][11][12]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of persons, not bound or subject to another as a slave is, having personal rights and liberty (Old English, about 725 in Barnhart; in King Alfred's writings).[3][13][14]

Semantic evolution

The primary sense of the root was “dear, beloved”.[6][15][10] The meaning “free” perhaps arose because the terms “beloved” or “friend” were applied to the free members of one's household or clan, related to its head, as opposed to the slaves;[4][11][10] the sense development is the converse of that of Latin līberī, which means both “free persons” and “children of the family”.[4][5][15] The older sense survives in the related verbs, as in German freien “to woo”, and in Old English frēo “wife” and the goddess name Frigg.[4][11] Old English frēo could also mean “noble, honourable”, a sense now obsolete.[16][5] The meaning “clear of obstruction” is from the mid-13th century, “unrestrained in movement” and “liberal, generous” from about 1300, and of nations “not subject to foreign rule or despotism” from the late 14th century.[4] “Characterized by liberty of action or expression” dates from the 1630s, and of art “not holding strictly to rule or form” from 1813.[4] The adverb is recorded from 1250 in Barnhart, 1559 in Merriam-Webster.[3][17] The catchphrase it's a free country dates from 1863.[13] In American prison slang the free has meant the world outside prison since the 1960s.[18][19]

Timeline

  • c. 725 – Old English frēo (adjective) and frēon (verb).[3]
  • c. 888 – of persons, not in bondage, in King Alfred.[13][14]
  • c. 1200 – fre; the verb frien.[3]
  • mid-13th century – clear of obstruction.[4]
  • c. 1300 – unrestrained in movement; generous.[4]
  • late 14th century – of a nation, not under foreign rule or despotism.[4][13]
  • 1552 – of trade, without restrictions.[20]
  • 1559 – as an adverb.[17]
  • 1630s – characterized by liberty of action or expression.[4]
  • 1813 – of art, not holding strictly to rules.[4]
  • 1863 – it's a free country.[13]
  • 1881 – free-for-all (US).[10]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Not imprisoned or enslaved; at liberty.
  2. Not controlled by obligation or by the will of another: free to go.
  3. Of a country or people, politically independent; enjoying civil liberties: a free press.
  4. Not affected or restricted by something; exempt: free from pain, tax-free.
  5. Not fixed, confined or obstructed: the free end of the rope.
  6. Costing nothing; given without charge.
  7. Not occupied or in use; available.
  8. Generous or lavish; frank or unreserved in manner.
  9. Of a translation, not literal.
  10. (physics, chemistry) Not bound in an atom, molecule or compound.

Adverb

  1. Without charge: children admitted free.
  2. Without restraint; freely.
  3. (nautical) With the wind well aft of dead ahead; not close-hauled.

Verb

  1. To set at liberty; to release.
  2. To relieve of a burden, obligation or restraint: freed him of debt.
  3. To remove obstructions or entanglements from; to clear.

Word family

  • freely
  • freeness
  • friend
  • Friday
  • freedom
  • freeman
  • freemason
  • freelance
  • freebooter
  • Frigg

Usage notes

Merriam-Webster distinguishes the verbs free, which implies a usually permanent removal from whatever binds or oppresses, release, liberate, emancipate and manumit.[17]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  6. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  8. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  10. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  11. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  12. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  13. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  14. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  15. ^ a b Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  16. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  17. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  18. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  19. ^ Dalzell, Tom; Victor, Terry, eds. (2013), The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, 2nd ed., London: Routledge
  20. ^ Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)