freelance

English Online Dictionary. What means freelance‎? What does freelance mean?

English

Alternative forms

• free-lance

Etymology

From free +‎ lance. Coined by Walter Scott (1771–1832) in Ivanhoe (1820) 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.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈfɹiːlɑːns/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈfɹiˌlæns/
• Rhymes: -iːlɑːns
• Hyphenation: free‧lance

Noun

freelance (plural freelances)

1. Someone who sells their services to clients without a long-term employment contract.
2. (historical) A medieval mercenary.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:mercenary

Derived terms

• freelancer

Descendants

Translations

Adjective

freelance (comparative more freelance, superlative most freelance)

1. Of, or relating to a freelance; without employment contract.

Translations

Verb

freelance (third-person singular simple present freelances, present participle freelancing, simple past and past participle freelanced)

1. (intransitive) To work as a freelance.
2. (transitive) To produce or sell services as a freelance.

Translations

Finnish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English freelance.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfriːlɑns/, [ˈfriːlɑ̝ns̠]
• Rhymes: -iːlɑns

Noun

freelance

1. (as modifier) freelance

   freelancetoimittaja ― freelance journalist

2. (rare) Synonym of freelancer (“freelancer”)

Declension

Derived terms

Further reading

• “freelance”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[1] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-02

French

Alternative forms

• free-lance

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fʁi.lɑ̃s/

Adjective

freelance (plural freelances)

1. freelance

Noun

freelance m or f by sense (plural freelances)

1. freelancer (someone who freelances)

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɐ̃si, -ilɐ̃ʃ
• Hyphenation: free‧lan‧ce

Adjective

freelance (invariable)

1. freelance

Spanish

Adjective

freelance (invariable)

1. freelance

Noun

freelance m (plural freelances)

1. freelancer (someone who freelances)

Further reading

• free lance | Definición | Diccionario de la lengua española | RAE - ASALE
• free lance | Diccionario panhispánico de dudas | RAE - ASALE
• freelance/freelancer | FundéuRAE