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unfree. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
unfree, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
unfree in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
unfree you have here. The definition of the word
unfree will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
unfree, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology
From Middle English unfre, from Old English , from Proto-West Germanic *unfrī; cognates include Middle High German unfrī (German unfrei), Middle Low German unvrī, Middle Dutch onvri (Dutch onvrij). By surface analysis, un- + free.
Adjective
unfree (comparative more unfree or unfreer or unfree-er, superlative unfree-est or unfreest or unfree-est)
- Not free; lacking freedom, especially (historical) of a tenant who was bound to a manor.
2002, Francis G. Gentry, The Nibelungen Tradition, page 142:By the time of the Nibelungenlied the word was used to denote a wide variety of usually ecclesiastic or royal administrators, from the lowest, unfree ministerial to an enfeoffed judge.
2006, James R. Otteson, Actual Ethics, page 17:Economically free countries enjoy decentralized power, whereas the power in economically unfree countries is centralized.
Translations
Noun
unfree (plural unfrees)
- (historical) A person lacking freedom, such as a tenant bound to a manor.
- 1863, James Paterson, History of the Counties of Ayr and Wigton (parts 1-2, page ccviii)
- The commissioners then proceeded to consider the various petitions and remonstrances of the unfrees, and to determine the amount to be levied from each.