freelance

CEFRB2

/ˈfɹiːlɑːns/

adjective · noun · verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    adjective

    Working independently for different clients rather than one employer.

  2. 02

    adjective

    Extra detail

    A medieval mercenary.

Examples

  • She earns her living as a freelance journalist.

  • I'd like to be a freelance.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
3
Citations
4
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

adjective

Extra meaning

  1. Of or relating to a freelance; without a long-term employment contract.

noun

Extra meaning

  1. Someone who sells their services to clients without a long-term employment contract.

verb

Extra meaning

  1. To work as a freelance.

More examples

In context

  • Tom is a freelance computer programmer.

  • He was a freelance writer for several magazines.

  • The objector, one Millworthy, a free-lance of journalism, was not to be so easily silenced.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The graphic designer worked as a blank for several companies.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

adjective

From free + lance. Coined by Walter Scott (1771–1832) in Ivanhoe (1819; see quotation) 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.