Link Centre Dictionary

freelance

free·lance

UK/ˈfɹiːlɑːns/ US/ˈfɹiˌlæns/ fairly common
adjective (2) noun (1)

adjective

1.

working for yourself

Synonyms
Antonyms
2.

used of soldiers hired by a foreign army

Synonyms
Similar

noun

1.

a writer or artist who sells services to different employers without a long-term contract with any of them

Synonyms

Origin

From free + lance. Coined by Walter Scott (1771-1832) in Ivanhoe (1819; see quotation) to describe a medieval mercenary warrior or "free-lance" (indicating that the lance is not sworn to any lord's services). It changed to a figurative noun around the 1860s and was recognized as a verb in 1903 by authorities such as the Oxford English Dictionary. In modern times the term has morphed into an adjective, a verb, and an adverb, as well as the derivative noun freelancer.

Related words

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.