free

Etymology

From Middle English free, fre, freo, from Old English frēo (“free”), from Proto-West Germanic *frī, from Proto-Germanic *frijaz (“beloved, not in bondage”), from Proto-Indo-European *priHós (“dear, beloved”), from *preyH- (“to love, please”). Related to friend. cognates, etc Germanic cognates include West Frisian frij (“free”), Dutch vrij (“free”), Low German free (“free”), German frei (“free”), Danish, Swedish and Norwegian fri (“free”). Other cognates include Russian приятель (prijatelʹ, “friend”) and Sanskrit प्रिय (priyá-, “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"). The verb comes 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-.

adj

1. (social) Unconstrained.
   1. Not imprisoned or enslaved.
      a free man
   2. Unconstrained by timidity or distrust
      Dr. Wilkins says, "He was naturally of a serious temper, which was somewhat soured by his sufferings, so that he was free only with a few." 1818, Richard Milward, The Table Talk of John Selden, page xxiv
   3. Generous; liberal.
      He's very free with his money.
   4. (obsolete) Clear of offence or crime; guiltless; innocent.
      My hands are guilty, but my heart is free. 1679, John Dryden, Oedipus: A Tragedy, page 59
   5. Without obligations.
      free time
   6. Thrown open, or made accessible, to all; to be enjoyed without limitations; unrestricted; not obstructed, engrossed, or appropriated; open; said of a thing to be possessed or enjoyed.
      a free school
      Why, sir, I pray, are not the streets as free / For me as for you? 1590-2, William Shakespeare, Taming of the Shrew, I, ii
   7. Not arbitrary or despotic; assuring liberty; defending individual rights against encroachment by any person or class; instituted by a free people; said of a government, institutions, etc.
      This is a free country.
   8. (software) With no or only freedom-preserving limitations on distribution or modification.
      OpenOffice is free software.
   9. (software) Intended for release, as opposed to a checked version.
2. Obtainable without any payment.
   Since the launch early last year of […] two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations. University brands built in some cases over centuries have been forced to contemplate the possibility that information technology will rapidly make their existing business model obsolete. 2013-07-20, “The attack of the MOOCs”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845
   The government provides free health care.
   It's free real estate.
   1. (by extension, chiefly advertising slang) complimentary
      Buy a TV to get a free DVD player!
3. (abstract) Unconstrained.
   1. (mathematics) Unconstrained by relators.
      the free group on three generators
   2. (mathematics, logic) Unconstrained by quantifiers.
      z is the free variable in ∀x∃y:xy=z.
   3. (programming) Unconstrained of identifiers, not bound.
   4. (linguistics) (of a morpheme) That can be used by itself, unattached to another morpheme.
4. (physical) Unconstrained.
   1. Unobstructed, without blockages.
      the drain was free
   2. Unattached or uncombined.
      a free radical
   3. Not currently in use; not taken; unoccupied.
      You can sit on this chair; it's free.
   4. (botany, mycology) Not attached; loose.
      In this group of mushrooms, the gills are free.
   5. (military) Of a rocket or missile: not under the control of a guidance system after being launched.
5. Without; not containing (what is specified); exempt; clear; liberated.
   We had a wholesome, filling meal, free of meat.  I would like to live free from care in the mountains.
   princes declaring themselves free from the obligations of their treaties 1679-1715, Gilbert Burnet, The History of the Reformation of the Church of England
6. (dated) Ready; eager; acting without spurring or whipping; spirited.
   a free horse
7. (dated) Invested with a particular freedom or franchise; enjoying certain immunities or privileges; admitted to special rights; followed by of.
   He therefore makes all birds, of every sect, / Free of his farm. 1697, John Dryden, “Part 3, line 1245”, in The Hind and the Panther
8. (UK, law, obsolete) Certain or honourable; the opposite of base.
   free service;  free socage
9. (law) Privileged or individual; the opposite of common.
   a free fishery;  a free warren

adv

1. Without needing to pay.
   I got this bike free.
   Above all, the 48-page timetables of the new service, which have been distributed free at every station in the scheme, are a model to the rest of B.R. For the first time on British Railways, so far as we are aware, a substantial timetable has been produced, not only without a single footnote but also devoid of all wearisome asterisks, stars, letter suffixes and other hieroglyphics. 1960 December, “The Glasgow Suburban Electrification is opened”, in Trains Illustrated, page 714
2. (obsolete) Freely; willingly.
   I as free forgive you / As I would be forgiven. c. 1601–1602, William Shakespeare, Henry VIII, published 1623

verb

1. (transitive) To make free; set at liberty; release.
2. (transitive) To rid of something that confines or oppresses.
   Then I walked about, till I found on the further side, a great river of sweet water, running with a strong current; whereupon I called to mind the boat-raft I had made aforetime and said to myself, "Needs must I make another; haply I may free me from this strait. If I escape, I have my desire and I vow to Allah Almighty to forswear travel; and if I perish I shall be at peace and shall rest from toil and moil." 1885, Richard F. Burton, The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Night 564
3. (transitive, programming) To relinquish (previously allocated memory) to the system.
   There is no way to access that original area of memory, nor is there any way to free it before the program ends. 2002, Jesse Liberty, SAMS Teach Yourself C++ in 24 Hours, page 148

noun

1. (Australian rules football, Gaelic football) Abbreviation of free kick.
   Whether deserved or not, the free gave Cresswell the chance to cover himself in glory with a shot on goal after the siren. 2006, http://footballlegends.org/daryn_cresswell.htm
2. (soccer) A free transfer.
   Hargreaves, who left Manchester United on a free during the summer, drilled a 22-yard beauty to open the scoring. September 21, 2011, Sam Lyon, “Man City 2 - 0 Birmingham”, in BBC Sport
3. (hurling) The usual means of restarting play after a foul is committed, where the non-offending team restarts from where the foul was committed.
4. (swimming, informal) Abbreviation of freestyle.
   The team won the 200 meters free relay.