freeman
n. countablen. a person who is not a slave or a servant and has the full rights of a citizen. In the past, this word described someone who was legally free to work for themselves.
n. a person who is not under the control of another, such as a slave or serf, and possesses full civil rights. Historically, it refers to a tenant who held land by free tenure or a person who had been granted the freedom of a city.
The king granted the man the status of a freeman.
In medieval society, a freeman had the right to move between towns and choose his own employer.
The transition from feudal serfdom to the status of a freeman represented a significant shift in the legal and economic autonomy of the individual within the agrarian hierarchy.
The term is largely archaic or historical; in modern contexts, it is most frequently encountered as a surname or in specific legal ceremonies.