freelance

Definition

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

Etymology

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.

Example Sentences

• "The objector, one Millworthy, a free-lance of journalism, was not to be so easily silenced."
• "The person you are revising (the revisee) is a colleague at your own rank, or another freelance."
• "I—I offered Richard the service of my Free Lances, and he refused them—I will lead them to Hull, seize on shipping, and embark for Flanders; […] Trust me, Estoteville alone has strength enough to drive all thy Free Lances into the Humber."