free
English
Etymology
From Middle English free, fre, freo, from Old English frēo (“free”), from Proto-West Germanic *frī, from Proto-Germanic *frijaz (“beloved, not in bondage”), from Proto-Indo-European *priHós (“dear, beloved”), from *preyH- (“to love, please”). Related to friend. Cognate with West Frisian frij (“free”), Dutch vrij (“free”), Low German free (“free”), German frei (“free”), Danish, Swedish and Norwegian fri (“free”), Sanskrit प्रिय (priyá).
Germanic and Celtic are the only Indo-European language branches in which the PIE word with the meaning of "dear, beloved" acquired the additional meaning of "free" in the sense of "not in bondage". This was an extension of the idea of "characteristic of those who are dear and beloved", in other words friends and tribe members (in contrast to unfree inhabitants from other tribes and prisoners of war, many of which were among the slaves – compare the Latin use of liberi to mean both "free persons" and "children of a family").[1][2]
The verb comes from Middle English freen, freoȝen, from Old English frēon, frēoġan (“to free; make free”), from Proto-West Germanic *frijōn, from Proto-Germanic *frijōną, from Proto-Indo-European *preyH-.
Pronunciation
- enPR: frē, IPA(key): /fɹiː/, [fɹɪi̯]
Audio (US): (file) Audio (UK): (file) - Rhymes: -iː
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Adjective
free (comparative freer, superlative freest)
- (social) Unconstrained.
- He was given free rein to do whatever he wanted.
- 1610-11?, Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act V, scene i:
- Quickly, spirit! / Thou shalt ere long be free.
- 1899, Stephen Crane, chapter 1, in Twelve O'Clock:
- There was some laughter, and Roddle was left free to expand his ideas on the periodic visits of cowboys to the town. “Mason Rickets, he had ten big punkins a-sittin' in front of his store, an' them fellers from the Upside-down-F ranch shot 'em up […].”
- 2013 August 10, Schumpeter, “Cronies and capitols”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848:
- Policing the relationship between government and business in a free society is difficult. Businesspeople have every right to lobby governments, and civil servants to take jobs in the private sector.
- Synonyms: unconstrained, unfettered, unhindered
- Antonyms: constrained, restricted
- Not imprisoned or enslaved.
- a free man
- Antonyms: bound, enslaved, imprisoned
- Unconstrained by timidity or distrust
- Synonyms: unreserved, frank, communicative
- 1818, Richard Milward, The Table Talk of John Selden, page xxiv:
- Dr. Wilkins says, "He was naturally of a serious temper, which was somewhat soured by his sufferings, so that he was free only with a few."
- Generous; liberal.
- He's very free with his money.
- (obsolete) Clear of offence or crime; guiltless; innocent.
- 1679, John Dryden, Oedipus: A Tragedy, page 59:
- My hands are guilty, but my heart is free.
- Without obligations.
- free time
- Thrown open, or made accessible, to all; to be enjoyed without limitations; unrestricted; not obstructed, engrossed, or appropriated; open; said of a thing to be possessed or enjoyed.
- a free school
- 1590-2, William Shakespeare, Taming of the Shrew, I, ii:
- Why, sir, I pray, are not the streets as free / For me as for you?
- Not arbitrary or despotic; assuring liberty; defending individual rights against encroachment by any person or class; instituted by a free people; said of a government, institutions, etc.
- This is a free country.
- (software) With no or only freedom-preserving limitations on distribution or modification.
- OpenOffice is free software.
- Synonym: libre
- Antonym: proprietary
- (software) Intended for release, as opposed to a checked version.
- Obtainable without any payment.
- 2013 July 20, “The attack of the MOOCs”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:
- Since the launch early last year of […] two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations. University brands built in some cases over centuries have been forced to contemplate the possibility that information technology will rapidly make their existing business model obsolete.
- The government provides free health care.
- It's free real estate.
- Synonyms: free of charge, gratis
- (by extension, chiefly advertising slang) complimentary
- Buy a TV to get a free DVD player!
- (abstract) Unconstrained.
- (mathematics) Unconstrained by relators.
- the free group on three generators
- (mathematics, logic) Unconstrained by quantifiers.
- is the free variable in .
- Antonym: bound
- (programming) Unconstrained of identifiers, not bound.
- (linguistics) (of a morpheme) That can be used by itself, unattached to another morpheme.
- (mathematics) Unconstrained by relators.
- (physical) Unconstrained.
- Unobstructed, without blockages.
- the drain was free
- Synonyms: clear, unobstructed
- Antonyms: blocked, obstructed
- Unattached or uncombined.
- a free radical
- Synonyms: loose, unfastened; see also Thesaurus:loose
- Not currently in use; not taken; unoccupied.
- You can sit on this chair; it's free.
- (botany, mycology) Not attached; loose.
- In this group of mushrooms, the gills are free.
- 1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page 7:
- Furthermore, the free anterior margin of the lobule is arched toward the lobe and is often involute […]
- Unobstructed, without blockages.
- Without; not containing (what is specified); exempt; clear; liberated.
- We had a wholesome, filling meal, free of meat. I would like to live free from care in the mountains.
- 1679-1715, Gilbert Burnet, The History of the Reformation of the Church of England:
- princes declaring themselves free from the obligations of their treaties
- 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 4, in The Celebrity:
- One morning I had been driven to the precarious refuge afforded by the steps of the inn, after rejecting offers from the Celebrity to join him in a variety of amusements. But even here I was not free from interruption, for he was seated on a horse-block below me, playing with a fox terrier.
- Synonym: without
- (dated) Ready; eager; acting without spurring or whipping; spirited.
- a free horse
- (dated) Invested with a particular freedom or franchise; enjoying certain immunities or privileges; admitted to special rights; followed by of.
- 1697, John Dryden, “Part 3, line 1245”, in The Hind and the Panther:
- He therefore makes all birds, of every sect, / Free of his farm.
- (UK, law, obsolete) Certain or honourable; the opposite of base.
- free service; free socage
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Burrill to this entry?)
- (law) Privileged or individual; the opposite of common.
- a free fishery; a free warren
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Burrill to this entry?)
Antonyms
Hyponyms
Derived terms
Related terms
- free Abelian group, free abelian group
- free algebra
- free and clear
- free and easy
- free as a bird
- free fall
- free group
- free lunch
- free market
- free marketeer
- free module
- free object
- free of charge
- free of the city
- free rein
- free ride
- free rider
- free semigroup
- free speech
- free spirit
- free time
- free variable
- free vote
- free will
- friend
Translations
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Adverb
free (comparative more free, superlative most free)
- Without needing to pay.
- I got this bike free.
- Synonyms: for free, for nothing
- (obsolete) Freely; willingly.
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Translations
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Verb
free (third-person singular simple present frees, present participle freeing, simple past and past participle freed)
- (transitive) To make free; set at liberty; release.
- 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii], page 5:
- (transitive) To rid of something that confines or oppresses.
- 1885, Richard F. Burton, The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Night 564:
- Then I walked about, till I found on the further side, a great river of sweet water, running with a strong current; whereupon I called to mind the boat-raft I had made aforetime and said to myself, "Needs must I make another; haply I may free me from this strait. If I escape, I have my desire and I vow to Allah Almighty to forswear travel; and if I perish I shall be at peace and shall rest from toil and moil."
- 1885, Richard F. Burton, The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Night 564:
Derived terms
Synonyms
Translations
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Noun
free (plural frees)
- (Australian rules football, Gaelic football) Abbreviation of free kick.
- 2006, [1]:
- Whether deserved or not, the free gave Cresswell the chance to cover himself in glory with a shot on goal after the siren.
- 2006, [1]:
- free transfer
- 2011 September 21, Sam Lyon, “Man City 2 - 0 Birmingham”, in BBC Sport[2]:
- Hargreaves, who left Manchester United on a free during the summer, drilled a 22-yard beauty to open the scoring.
- (hurling) The usual means of restarting play after a foul is committed, where the non-offending team restarts from where the foul was committed.
Translations
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
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References
- ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “free”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
- ^ "frei" in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
Anagrams
Galician
Verb
free
- first-person singular present subjunctive of frear
- third-person singular present subjunctive of frear
Low German
Alternative forms
- frie (more common)
Etymology
From Middle Low German vrîe, variant of vrî, from Old Saxon frī, from Proto-Germanic *frijaz, from Proto-Indo-European *prey (“new”). Compare Dutch vrij, West Frisian frij, English free, German frei.
Adjective
free (comparative fre'er, superlative freest)
Declension
gender | singular | plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
masculine | feminine | neuter | all genders | ||
predicative | he is free | se is free | dat is free | se sünd free | |
partitive | een Fre'es | een Fre'es | wat Fre'es | allens Fre'e | |
strong declension (without article) |
nominative | fre'e | fre'e | free | fre'e |
oblique | fre'en | fre'e | free | fre'e | |
weak declension (with definite article) |
nominative | de fre'e | de fre'e | dat fre'e | de fre'en |
oblique | den fre'en | de fre'e | dat fre'e | de fre'en | |
mixed declension (with indefinite article) |
nominative | en fre'e/fre'en | en fre'e | en free/fre'et | (keen) fre'en |
oblique | en fre'en | en fre'e | en free/fre'et | (keen) fre'en |
gender | singular | plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
masculine | feminine | neuter | all genders | ||
predicative | he is fre'er | se is fre'er | dat is fre'er | se sünd fre'er | |
partitive | een fre'ers | een fre'ers | wat fre'ers | allens fre'er | |
strong declension (without article) |
nominative | fre'ere | fre'ere | fre'er | fre'ere |
oblique | fre'ern | fre'ere | fre'er | fre'ere | |
weak declension (with definite article) |
nominative | de fre'ere | de fre'ere | dat fre'ere | de fre'ern |
oblique | den fre'ern | de fre'ere | dat fre'ere | de fre'ern | |
mixed declension (with indefinite article) |
nominative | en fre'ere/fre'eren | en fre'ere | en fre'er | (keen) fre'ern |
oblique | en fre'ern | en fre'ere | en fre'er | (keen) fre'ern |
gender | singular | plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
masculine | feminine | neuter | all genders | ||
predicative | he is de Freeste | se is de Freeste | dat is dat Freeste | se sünd de Freesten | |
strong declension (without article) |
nominative | freeste | freeste | freest | freeste |
oblique | freesten | freeste | freest | freeste | |
weak declension (with definite article) |
nominative | de freeste | de freeste | dat freeste | de freesten |
oblique | den freesten | de freeste | dat freeste | de freesten | |
mixed declension (with indefinite article) |
nominative | en freeste/freesten | en freeste | en freest | (keen) freesten |
oblique | en freesten | en freeste | en freest | (keen) freesten |
Derived terms
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *preyH-
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms inherited from Proto-Indo-European
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/iː
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations
- English terms with obsolete senses
- en:Software
- en:Mathematics
- en:Logic
- en:Programming
- en:Linguistics
- en:Botany
- en:Mycology
- English dated terms
- British English
- en:Law
- Requests for quotations/Burrill
- English adverbs
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- en:Australian rules football
- en:Gaelic football
- English abbreviations
- en:Hurling
- en:Money
- Galician non-lemma forms
- Galician verb forms
- Low German terms inherited from Middle Low German
- Low German terms derived from Middle Low German
- Low German terms derived from Old Saxon
- Low German terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Low German terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Low German lemmas
- Low German adjectives
- Low German terms with rare senses