freelance

English

Alternative forms

• free-lance

Etymology

From free +‎ lance. Coined by Sir 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

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɹiːlɑːns/
• IPA^(key): /ˈfɹiˌlæns/

Noun

freelance (plural freelances)

1. Someone who sells their services to employers without a long-term contract.
   • 2014, Brian Mossop, Revising and Editing for Translators (page 192)

     The person you are revising (the revisee) is a colleague at your own rank, or another freelance.

2. (historical) A medieval mercenary.

Synonyms

• (medieval mercenary): see Thesaurus:mercenary

Derived terms

• freelancer

Descendants

• Catalan: freelance
• Finnish: freelance
• French: freelance
• Japanese: フリーランス (furīransu)

• Portuguese: frila(br) freelance(pt)
• Spanish: freelance
• Swedish: frilans
• Turkish: freelance

Translations

Someone who sells his services to employers without a long-term contract

• Estonian: vabakutseline
• Finnish: freelancer (fi), freelance (fi)
• French: pigiste (fr), freelance (fr)
• German: freier Mitarbeiter m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: collaboratore esterno, freelance (it)
• Spanish: trabajador autónomo m, freelance
• Swedish: frilans (sv) c

A medieval mercenary

• French: mercenaire (fr)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: mercenario (it) m

Adjective

freelance (comparative more freelance, superlative most freelance)

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

   He was a freelance writer for several magazines.

Translations

Of, or relating to a freelance

• Catalan: freelance (ca)
• Estonian: vabakutseline
• Finnish: freelance-, vapaa (fi)
• French: à la pige, indépendant (fr)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Irish: neamhspleách
• Spanish: freelance
• Thai: อิสระ (th) (ìt-sà-rà)
• Turkish: freelance-, ^{(please verify)} Açık İş

Verb

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

Translations

To work as a freelance

• Finnish: työskennellä freelancerina
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Swedish: frilansa (sv)

To produce or sell services as a freelance

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Japanese: ^{(please verify)} フリーランス (ja) (furīransu)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Norwegian: ^{(please verify)} frilans

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Spanish

Adjective

1. freelance

Noun

freelance m (plural freelances)

1. freelancer