free

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   unconstrained or not chemically bound in a molecule or not fixed and capable of relatively unrestricted motion

   free expansion

2. 2
   adj

   not held in servitude

   After the Civil War I was a free man.

3. 3
   adj

   not occupied or in use

   a free locker

4. 4
   adj

   not taken up by scheduled activities

   a free hour between classes

5. 5
   noun

   people who are free

   the home of the free and the brave

6. 6
   verb

   free or remove obstruction from

   free a path across the cluttered floor

7. 7
   verb

   grant freedom to

   free from confinement

8. 8
   adj

   Unconstrained.

   He was given free rein to do whatever he wanted.

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 (“pleased, loved”), from *preyH- (“to please, love”). Related to friend. cognates, etc Germanic cognates include Scots fre (“free”), North Frisian frai, frei, fri, Frii (“free”), Saterland Frisian fräi (“free”), West Frisian frij (“free”), Dutch vrij (“free”), German frei (“free”), Low German free (“free”), Luxembourgish fräi (“free”), Vilamovian frȧj (“free”), Yiddish פֿרײַ (fray, “free”), Danish, Norwegia…