英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

free-standing (adj.)[free-standing 词源字典]: 1841, from free (adj.) + standing (adj.).[free-standing etymology, free-standing origin, 英语词源]
free-thinker (n.): "one not guided in belief by authority; one who submits the claims of authority to what he deems the test of reason," 1690s, from free (adj.) + think (v.) + agent noun suffix -er (1). Free-thought "rationalism" is from 1711. Related: Free-thinking.
free-wheeling (adj.): also freewheeling, 1903, from free wheel (1899, see free (adj.) + wheel (n.)); a bicycle wheel that turns even when not being pedaled, later from the name of a kind of automobile drive system that allowed cars to coast without being slowed by the engine. Figurative sense is from 1911.
freebase: 1980 (noun and verb), in reference to cocaine. As a chemical process, it returns a salt form of an alkaloid to its pure form. Related: Freebased; freebasing.
freebie: also freeby, 1942 (adj.) "for nothing, without charge;" 1946 (n.) "something given for free;" perhaps as early as 1900; formed "Arbitrarily" [OED] from free (adj.). Compare newbie, rudesby.
freebooter (n.): 1560s, loan-translation of Dutch vrijbuiter "plunderer, robber," from vrijbuiten "to rob, plunder," from vrijbuit "plunder," literally "free booty," from vrij "free" (see free (adj.)) + buit "booty," from buiten "to exchange or plunder," from Middle Dutch buten, related to Middle Low German bute "exchange" (see booty).

The English word, Danish fribytter, Swedish fribytare, and German Freibeuter were formed on the model of the Dutch word, which is the source of filibuster (q.v.). The back-formed verb freeboot is recorded from 1590s. Related: Freebooting; freebootery.
freedman (n.): "manumitted slave," c. 1600, from past participle of free (adj.) + man (n.). Especially in U.S. history. The older word is freeman. Freedman's Bureau (1865) was the popular name of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, established by Congress March 3, 1865, and discontinued in 1872.
freedom (n.): Old English freodom "power of self-determination, state of free will; emancipation from slavery, deliverance;" see free (adj.) + -dom. Meaning "exemption from arbitrary or despotic control, civil liberty" is from late 14c. Meaning "possession of particular privileges" is from 1570s. Similar formation in Old Frisian fridom, Dutch vrijdom, Middle Low German vridom. Freedom-rider recorded 1961 in reference to civil rights activists in U.S. trying to integrate bus lines.
It has been said by some physicians, that life is a forced state. The same may be said of freedom. It requires efforts, it presupposes mental and moral qualities of a high order to be generally diffused in the society where it exists. [John C. Calhoun, speech, U.S. House of Representatives, Jan. 31, 1816]
Freedom fighter attested by 1903 (originally with reference to Cuba). Freedom-loving (adj.) is from 1841.
freehold (n.): "landed estate in possession of a freeman," late 15c., later generalized to any outright ownership of land, a translation of Anglo-French fraunc tenement; see free (adj.) + hold (n.1).
freeholder (n.): "one who owns land outright," early 15c.; see freehold.
freelance (v.): 1902, from freelance (n.). Related: Freelancer (1898); freelanced; freelancing.
freeloader (n.): also free-loader, by 1939, from free (adj.) + agent noun from load (v.). Related: Freeloading. As a verb, freeload is attested by 1967 and probably is a back-formation from this.
freely (adv.): Middle English frely, from Old English freolice "of one's own accord, readily;" see free (adj.) + -ly (2). Meaning "unstintedly; plentifully" is from c. 1300; that of "without constraint, under free conditions" is from 1590s. Similar formation in Middle Low German vrilike, Dutch vrijelijk "freely," German freilich "to be sure."
freeman (n.): Old English freoman "free-born man;" see free (adj.) + man (n.). Similar formation in Old Frisian frimon, Dutch vrijman, Old High German friman.
freemason (n.): late 14c., originally a traveling guild of masons with a secret code; in the early 17c. they began accepting honorary members and teaching them the secrets and lore, which was continued into or revived in the 17th century and by 1717 had developed into the secret fraternity of affiliated lodges known as Free and Accepted Masons (commonly abbreviated F. and A. M.). The accepted refers to persons admitted to the society but not belonging to the craft.

The exact origin of the free- is a subject of dispute. Some [such as Klein] see a corruption of French frère "brother," from frèremaçon "brother mason;" others say it was because the masons worked on "free-standing" stones; still others see them as "free" from the control of local guilds or lords [OED]. Related: freemasonic.
freemasonry (n.): mid-15c., from freemason + -ry.
freeness (n.): mid-15c., from free (adj.) + -ness.
freer (n.): "one who sets free," c. 1600, from free + -er (1). An Old English word for this was freogend.
freer (adj.): comparative of free (adj.). See -er (2).
freestyle (n.): also free-style, 1912, in swimming, in reference to a distance race in which the swimmers may use whatever stroke they choose; 1950 in general use, from free + style. The most common stroke is the front crawl, as this is generally the fastest. As an adjective, from 1957; as a verb, by 1970 (in martial arts).