ENGLISH
REFERENCE

freelance

n. · adj. · v.
US //ˈfɹiˌɫæns// UK //fɹˈiːlɑːns// free·lance
  1. 1 independent worker (n.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate

    someone who works for different companies at different times rather than being employed by one company.

    a person who acts independently rather than being under contract to a single employer; often used in creative or technical industries.

    Example

    After ten years at the newspaper, she decided to become a freelance and work from home.

    Example

    The agency relies heavily on a network of experienced freelances to handle overflow work during the peak marketing season.

    Usage

    While 'freelancer' is now more common as a noun, 'freelance' remains standard in this sense.
  2. 2 self-employed (adj.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate

    doing work for several different companies rather than for just one.

    relating to or denoting a person who works for different companies rather than being permanently employed by one.

    Example

    He earns a good living doing freelance graphic design for various tech startups.

    Example

    The company hired a freelance consultant to oversee the transition to the new software system.
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  1. 3 to work independently (v.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate

    to work for yourself and sell your services to different clients.

    to work as a freelance; can be used without an object or with a specific service as the object.

    Example

    She has been freelancing for several years and enjoys the flexible schedule.

    Example

    He spent the summer freelancing his coding skills to local businesses while searching for a full-time position.
  2. 4 medieval mercenary (n.)
    C2 Proficiency Archaic Literary

    a soldier in the past who was not loyal to one king and would fight for anyone who paid them.

    a medieval mercenary soldier whose loyalties were not fixed to a specific lord or nation.

    Example

    The old stories tell of a brave freelance who fought in many foreign wars.

    Example

    The term originally described a medieval freelance whose lance was not sworn to any particular lord's service.

    Teacher's tip

    This is the historical origin of the modern word; it is rarely used today except in historical fiction or etymological discussions.
Origin

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.

Word family

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