free
Etymology graph
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Origin
From Middle English fre, from Old English frēo, frēoh, frī, friġ, frīoh (“free”), from Proto-West Germanic *frī, from Proto-Germanic *frijaz (“beloved, not in bondage”), from Proto-Indo-European *priHós (“pleased, loved”), from *preyH- (“to please; to love”). Related to friend.
cognates, etc
Germanic cognates include Scots fre (“free”), North Frisian frai, frei, fri, Frii (“free”), Saterland Frisian fräi (“free”), West Frisian frij (“free”), Dutch vrij (“free”), German frei (“free”), Low German free (“free”), Luxembourgish fräi (“free”), Vilamovian frȧj (“free”), Yiddish פֿרײַ (fray, “free”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish fri (“free”), Faroese fríur (“free”), Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌴𐌹𐍃 (freis, “free”).
Other cognates include Cornish rydh (“free”), Welsh rhydd (“free”), Latin propriō (“to appropriate”), Czech přát (“to wish; to favour”), Polish sprzyjać (“to favour, foster”), Serbo-Croatian прѝјати, prìjati (“to please, taste, suit; to be agreeable, relish”), Slovak priať (“to wish”), Avestan 𐬟𐬭𐬌𐬌𐬀 (friia, “good, pleasant”), Persian فری (fari, “beloved, dear; agreeable, pleasing”), Sanskrit प्रिय (priya, “beloved”).
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").
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-, and is cognate with German freien, Dutch vrijen, Czech přát, Serbo-Croatian prijati, Polish sprzyjać.
From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Lineage
- inheritedMiddle Englishfre
- inheritedOld Englishfrēo “freeborn”
- inheritedProto-West Germanic*friu
- inheritedOld Englishfrēo “freeborn”
- derivedEnglisha “The first letter of the English alphabet, written in the Latin script.”
- derived (possibly)Englishthe “...because it has already been mentioned, is to be completely specified in the same sentence, or ve…”
- derivedEnglish7th
- derivedEnglishSweden “A country in Scandinavia in Northern Europe. Official name: Kingdom of Sweden. Capital: Stockholm.”
- derivedEnglishJohn “A male given name originating from the Bible [in turn from Hebrew]; very popular since the Middle A…”
- derivedEnglishEisen “A surname from German.”
- derivedEnglishMilonakis—himself
- derivedEnglishmull “To work (over) mentally; to cogitate; to ruminate.”
- derivedEnglishNîmes “A city, the capital of Gard department, Occitania, southern France, formerly in the region of Langu…”
- derivedEnglishon “In the state of being active, functioning or operating.”
- derivedEnglishpassio “suffering”
- derivedEnglishmarine “Belonging to or characteristic of the sea; existing or found in the sea; formed or produced by the …”
- derivedEnglishninny “A silly or foolish person.”
- derivedEnglishlack “A deficiency or need (of something desirable or necessary); an absence, want, dearth.”
- derivedEnglishtalking “The action of the verb talk.”
- derivedEnglishPlacerville “A city, the county seat of El Dorado County, California, United States.”
- derivedEnglishinside “The interior or inner part.”
- derivedEnglishacetylierte
- derivedEnglishBlau “A surname from German.”
- derivedEnglishFahr “A surname from German.”
- derived (possibly)EnglishMatthew “A male given name from Hebrew of biblical origin.”
- derivedEnglishBMC
- derivedLatin-plus “-ple”
- derivedEnglishming “To mix, blend, mingle.”
- derivedEnglishRuaghagain
- derivedEnglishhome “One’s own dwelling place; the house or structure in which one lives; especially the house in which …”
- derivedEnglishkind “A type, race or category; a group of entities that have common characteristics such that they may b…”
- derivedEnglishits “Belonging to it.”
- derivedEnglishfirst “Preceding all others of a series or kind; the ordinal of one; earliest.”
- derivedEnglish1940
- derivedProto-Germanic*landą “land”
- derivedEnglishKohl “A surname from German.”
- derivedEnglishMöhn
- derivedEnglishwhich “What, of those mentioned or implied.”
- derivedEnglishleer “To look sideways or obliquely; now especially with sexual desire or malicious intent.”
- derivedEnglishflap “Anything broad and flexible that hangs loose, or that is attached by one side or end and is easily …”
- derivedEnglishjam “A sweet mixture of fruit boiled with sugar and allowed to congeal. Often spread on bread or toast o…”
- derivedEnglishwindow “An opening, usually covered by one or more panes of clear glass, to allow light and air from outsid…”
- derivedEnglishwind “Real or perceived movement of atmospheric air usually caused by convection or differences in air pr…”
- partEnglishAllhallowmas “All Saints' Day.”
- derivedEnglishbog “An area of decayed vegetation (particularly sphagnum moss) which forms a wet spongy ground too soft…”
- derivedEnglishclosing “The act by which something is closed.”
- derivedEnglishBritain “The United Kingdom, a kingdom and country in Northern Europe including the island of Great Britain …”
- derivedEnglishsoylent “An undesirable, lackluster, and artificial foodstuff, as a substitute for real meat.”
- derivedEnglishCicero's
- partEnglishThomas “An infidel or doubter.”
- derivedEnglishMiddle “A sheading of the Isle of Man.”
- derivedEnglishan “Used before a vowel sound.”
- derivedEnglishbradán “salmon”
- derivedEnglishrotary “Capable of rotation.”
- derivedEnglishwithin “In the inner part, spatially; physically inside.”
- derivedEnglisheating “Bred to be eaten.”
- derivedEnglishblue “Of a blue hue.”
- borrowedEnglishFrench “The language of France, shared by the neighboring countries Belgium, Monaco, and Switzerland and by…”
- partEnglishStanley “A habitational surname from Old English.”
- derived (possibly)EnglishCarolina “A female given name from Latin, Latinate form of Caroline; rare in English.”
- derivedEnglishlate “Near the end of a period of time.”
- derivedEnglishtso
- derivedEnglishteneō “to hold, to retain”
- derived (possibly)Englishtechnical “Specifically related to a particular discipline.”
- derivedEnglishwaffle “A flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern, often eaten hot with butter and/or honey or syrup.”
- derivedEnglishHugh “A male given name from the Germanic languages.”
- derivedEnglishWilkin “A surname originating as a patronymic.”
- derivedEnglishJohan “A female given name from Hebrew.”
- derivedEnglishMonty “A diminutive of the male given names Montgomery and Montague.”
- derivedEnglishRichard “A male given name from the Germanic languages.”
- derivedEnglishMassachusett “A Native American tribe who traditionally live in the Massachusetts Bay area in the state of Massac…”
- derivedEnglishDravidian “A family of related ethnicities and languages primarily in Southern India, Northeast Sri Lanka, and…”
- derivedEnglishOld “A surname.”
- partOld Englishdū̆ce “duck”
- derivedEnglishtolowechek' “I speak Tolowa”
- derivedEnglishpuff “A sharp exhalation of a small amount of breath through the mouth.”
- derivedEnglishBela “A short river in south Cumbria, England, which flows into the estuary of the River Kent; in full, t…”
- derivedEnglishole “An interjection used to stir up excitement.”
- derivedEnglishsense “Any of the manners by which living beings perceive the physical world: for humans sight, smell, hea…”
- derivedEnglishpituitary “Of or relating to the pituitary gland.”
- derivedEnglishvariable “Able to vary or be varied.”
- derivedEnglishBolama “One of the islands of the Bijagós Archipelago, Guinea-Bissau”
- derivedEnglishleg “A limb or appendage that an animal uses for support or locomotion on land.”
- derivedEnglishThe
- derived (possibly)Englishtransport “To carry or bear from one place to another; to remove; to convey.”
- derivedEnglishNovak “A surname.”
- derivedEnglishvan “A covered motor vehicle used to carry goods or (normally less than ten) persons, usually roughly cu…”
- derivedEnglishਰਾਵਾ “commander, king”
- derivedEnglishof “From (a place); off.”
- derivedEnglish1535:
- derivedEnglishabfraction “A proposed mechanism for noncarious tooth tissue loss, owing not to decay but rather to biomechanic…”
- derivedEnglishhide “To put (something) in a place where it will be out of sight or harder to discover.”
- derivedEnglishLa “A surname”
- derivedEnglishMargaret “A female given name from Ancient Greek.”
- derivedEnglishhis “Belonging to him.”
- derived (possibly)Old Norsein
- derivedClassical Latinumbilicus
- derivedEnglishmy “Belonging to me.”
- calqueJapanese頭
- derivedEnglishbloodroot “A North American plant, Sanguinaria canadensis, of the poppy family, which has a red root and sap a…”
- derivedEnglishwet “Made up of liquid or moisture, usually (but not always) water.”
- derivedEnglishWilliam “radiotelephony clear-code word for the letter W.”
- derivedEnglishobscurity “Darkness; the absence of light.”
- derivedEnglishc.
- derivedEnglishother “See other (determiner) below.”
- derivedOld EnglishTæbba
- calque (possibly)Englishthe “...because it has already been mentioned, is to be completely specified in the same sentence, or ve…”
- derivedEnglishclassic “Of or relating to the first class or rank, especially in literature or art.”
- derivedEnglishKlemens
- derivedEnglishtea “The tea plant (Camellia sinensis); (countable) a variety of this plant.”
- derivedEnglishCritique
- partEnglisheven “Flat and level.”
- partEnglishthe “...because it has already been mentioned, is to be completely specified in the same sentence, or ve…”
- partEnglishknife “A utensil or a tool designed for cutting, consisting of a flat piece of hard material, usually stee…”
- partOld Englishworþ “enclosure”
- inheritedMiddle Englisha
- inheritedMiddle Englishof
- inheritedMiddle Englishaw
- borrowedRussianа
- derived (possibly)Englishthe “...because it has already been mentioned, is to be completely specified in the same sentence, or ve…”
- derivedGermanArbeiter “labourer”
- inheritedMiddle Englishfreen
- inheritedOld Englishfrēon
Related: Scots fre, North Frisian frai, Saterland Frisian fräi, West Frisian frij, Dutch vrij, German frei, Low German free, Luxembourgish fräi, Vilamovian frȧj, Yiddish פֿרײַ, da,nb,nn,sv fri, Faroese fríur, Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌴𐌹𐍃, Cornish rydh, Welsh rhydd, Latin propriō, Czech přát, Polish sprzyjać, Serbo-Croatian прѝјати, Slovak priať, Avestan 𐬟𐬭𐬌𐬌𐬀, Persian فری, Sanskrit प्रिय, German freien
Words built on it: free state, half-free, free city
Sources
- Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
- Wiktionary: free