freelance

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.

noun

1. Someone who sells their services to clients without a long-term employment contract.
   The person you are revising (the revisee) is a colleague at your own rank, or another freelance. 2014, Brian Mossop, Revising and Editing for Translators, page 192
2. (historical) A medieval mercenary.

adj

1. Of, or relating to a freelance; without employment contract.
   He was a freelance writer for several magazines.

verb

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