freelance
Meanings
Plural: freelances
Noun
- a writer or artist who sells services to different employers without a long-term contract with any of them
- Someone who sells their services to clients without a long-term employment contract.
- A medieval mercenary.
Verb
- work independently and on temporary contracts rather than for a long-term employer
- To work as a freelance.
- To produce or sell services as a freelance.
Adjective
- working for yourself
Adjective Satellite
- serving for wages in a foreign army
Adj
- Of, or relating to a freelance; without employment contract.
Origin / 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.
Synonyms
adventurer, bravo, condottiere, filibuster, free companion, free lance, free-lance, freebooter, freelance, freelancer, hired gun, hireling, hit man, independent, merc, mercenary, private military contractor, self-employed, self-employed person, sellsword, soldier of fortune
Antonyms
Scrabble Score: 14
freelance is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL wordfreelance is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
freelance is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary