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freeman. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
freeman, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
freeman in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
freeman you have here. The definition of the word
freeman will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
freeman, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology
From free + -man, paralleled by similar constructions in other Germanic languages. Doublet of preman.
Pronunciation
Noun
freeman (plural freemen)
- A free person, particularly:
- (usually historical) A person who is not a serf or slave.
- (historical) A burgher with full freedom of a city, as opposed to nobles, outsiders, bondsmen, and others.
- A person who has received an honorary freedom of a city.
- (usually as two words) A person who is a citizen of a free country, as opposed to a subject of a tyranny or totalitarian dictatorship.
- 1836, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., “Poetry: A Metrical Essay”, republished in The Poems of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, 1862, OCLC 5091562, pages 7–8:
- There breathes no being but has some pretence / To that fine instinct called poetic sense; / The freeman, casting with unpurchased hand / The vote that shakes the turrets of the land.
- (Australia, historical) A person who immigrated to Australia freely, as opposed to those transported as convicts, or such a transported convict who has regained his freedom.
- (US and Canada, historical) An independent fur trapper.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Hyponyms
Derived terms
Translations
person who is not a serf or slave
person who is a citizen of a free country
Anagrams