Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “freelance” come from?

Freelance comes from English free and Old French lance, ultimately deriving from Latin lancea meaning a light spear, with the first element tracing to Proto-Germanic frijaz and Proto-Indo-European prēy-.

freelance (English): Someone who sells their services to clients...

Definitions

  1. Someone who sells their services to clients...

Ancestry of “freelance”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishFree—
2EnglishfallerOne who falls; A fruit that falls from the tree,...
3English-erA person or thing that does an action indicated...
4Middle English-eragentive suffix; agent noun suffix
5Old French-erAlternative form of -ier, verbal suffix;...
6Latin-āre—
7Proto-Italic-āōForms primarily denominative verbs
8Proto-Indo-European-eh₂yétiCreates iterative/ frequentative/ intensive...
9Proto-Indo-European-yétiCreates intransitive, often deponent,...
10Proto-Indo-Europeanyé-—
11Chichewaiyehe, she

Words derived from “freelance”

  • freelancer
  • freelancer
  • freelancetoimittaja
  • freelancetyöntekijä
  • freelance
  • freelancetyö
  • freelancenäyttelijä
  • フリーランス
  • フリーランサー
  • 프리랜서
Every word from Chichewa iye →