freelance
nounadjectiveverbattested in dialogue
- United Kingdom//ˈfɹiːlɑːns//
- United States//ˈfɹiˌlæns//
Someone who sells their services to clients without a long-term employment contract.
noun
- 1
Someone who sells their services to clients without a long-term employment contract.
The objector, one Millworthy, a free-lance of journalism, was not to be so easily silenced.
The person you are revising (the revisee) is a colleague at your own rank, or another freelance.
- 2
historicalA medieval mercenary.
I—I offered Richard the service of my Free Lances, and he refused them—I will lead them to Hull, seize on shipping, and embark for Flanders; […] Trust me, Estoteville alone has strength enough to drive all thy Free Lances into the Humber.
Etymology
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.
adjective
- 1
Of or relating to a freelance; without a long-term employment contract.
He was a freelance writer for several magazines.
Both work -- Jenny as a freelance writer from home, Marc full-time-plus as a civil engineer with a long commute. Jenny also takes care of their four sons, ages 20 months to 9 years, and homeschools the two oldest.
verb
- 1
To work as a freelance.
- 2
To produce or sell services as a freelance.
Forms
- plural
- freelances
- comparative
- more freelance
- superlative
- most freelance
- past tense
- freelanced
- past participle
- freelanced
- present participle
- freelancing
- third person singular
- freelances
freelance · Someone who sells their services to clients without a long-term employment contract.
freely · Free; frank.freeman · A free person A person who has received an honorary freedom…Freeman · A surname.