freedom 
large opportunity given for the exercise of one's powers : 
as, the freedom of country life ; or where the previous or 
possible restriction has been or is legal or moral : as, the 
slave was given his freedom ; he expressed his views with 
freedom. Libert 11 is more often public ; frudom, personal 
and private. Liberty has more in mind protection from 
external constraint or from the aggressions of power; 
hence, in civil affairs, liberty is freedom as outlined and 
proteeteil by law. [ndeftndtnat is more exact, expressing 
not only self-direction but exemption from control, and 
even lack of connection. There may be liberty without 
ind'jxndence, as in the case of a self-governed colony, and 
there may be indepemtence without liberty, as in the case 
of a despotic monarchy. 
Ye winds, that wafted the Pilgrims to the land of prom- 
ise, fan, in their children's hearts, the love of freedom! 
. . . Speak, speak, marble lips ! teach us the love of lib- 
erty protected by law. Everett, Eulogy of Lafayette. 
This is got by casting pearl to hogs ; 
That bawl (or freedom in their senseless mood, 
And still revolt when truth would set them free. 
License they mean when they cry liberty ; 
For who loves that, must first be wise and good. 
Hilton, Sonnets, vii. 
Individuals entering into a society must give up a share 
of their liberty to preserve the rest. Washington. 
The independence and liberty you possess are the work of 
joint counsels and joint efforts. 
Washington, Farewell Address. 
freedstolet, [Improper form, accom. to 
freed."] Same as frithstool. 
freedwoman(fred'wum // an),M.; pi. freedwomen 
(-wim"eu). A woman who has been a slave and 
is made free. 
free-footed (fre'fut/'ed), a. Not restrained in 
the use of the feet; hence, unrestricted in 
movement or action ; foot-loose. 
We will fetters put upon this fear, 
Which now goes too free-footed. 
Shale., Hamlet, iii. 3. 
free-hand (fre'hand), a. Done with the un- 
aided hand and eye ; executed without guiding 
instruments, measurements, or other artificial 
aid : as, free-hand drawing. 
The curve was not drawn by freehand [drawingl, but by 
means of engineers' curves. Nature, XXXVII. 294. 
free-handed (fre'han'ded), a. 1. Having the 
hands free or unrestrained. 2. Open-handed; 
liberal. 
He was as free-handed a young fellow as any in the army ; 
he went to Bond St. and bought the best hat and spencer 
that money could buy. Thackeray, Vanity Fair, vi. 
free-handedness (fre'han"ded-nes), n. Liber- 
ality; generosity. 
Standing treat with quite a reckless freehandedness. 
Arch. Forbes, Souvenirs of some Continents, p. 120. 
free-hearted (fre'har'ted), a. [Cf. D. vrijhar- 
tig = G. freiherzig.] Open; frank; generous. 
A noble, honest gentleman, free-hearted, 
And of an open faith, much loving and much lov'd. 
Fletcher and another, Love's Pilgrimage, iii. 3. 
One of lord Union's men? a gift, I warrant. . . . And 
how does that honourable, complete, free-hearted gentle- 
man of Athens, thy very bountiful good lord and master? 
Shak., T. of A., iii. 1. 
free-heartedly (fre'har"ted-li), adv. In a free- 
hearted manner ; frankly ; liberally. 
free-heartedness (fre'har*ted-nes), n. Frank- 
ness ; openness of heart ; liberality. 
freehold (fre'hold), n. [< free + hold*-, .] 1. 
In law : (a) Originally, in England, an estate 
in land in possession held by a freeman ; a free 
spcage or feudal estate ; now, an estate in fee 
simple or fee tail, or for life, as opposed to 
copyhold. See the extract. 
The distinguishing marks of a freehold [in England] 
were, (1) that it should last for life, ... (2) that the du- 
ties or services should be free : that is, worthy the accep- 
tance of a free man. To fulfil this latter condition, it was 
necessary that the services by which the land was held and 
by the non-performance of which it would be forfeited 
should be honourable (that is, not servile) in respect of 
their quality, and certain in respect both of their quality 
and quantity. Mozley and Whitely, Concise Law Diet. 
(6) Hence, in general, an estate in land such as 
was originally considered as being an ownership 
of the soil itself, as distinguished from a mere 
use or chattel interest in it. That is, it is an estate 
in possession, either of indefinite future duration, trans- 
missible to one's heirs (called an estate of inheritance), or 
for the life of either the owner or some one else ; or " an 
estate in possession, the duration of which is not fixed or 
ascertained by a specified limit of time" (Digby). 
I still own, and until a few months occupied, a house 
and garden ; one half of the land is freehold, and one half 
under a lease of 10,000 years, which I believe dates from 
early in this century. 
Thomas Kerslake, N. and Q., 7th ser., V. 73. 
2. A parcel of land held by either of the ten- 
ures above described. 3. Figuratively, any 
free or unrestricted possession, or right of pos- 
session ; that which belongs to one absolutely. 
But if she lift up her drooping head and prosper, among 
those that have something more than wisht her welfare, 
I have my charter and freehold of rejoycing to me and my 
Milton, Church-Government, Pref., ii. 
heires. 
149 
2369 
My heart's good freehold, sir, and so you'll find it. 
Beau, and Fl., Wit without Money, ii. 4. 
All the authorities speak of fellowships in colleges as 
freeholds. D. Webster, Speech, March 10, 1818. 
Customary freehold, sre ruxtoiimrii. 
freeholder (fre'hol"der), . [</ree7ioW + -eri.] 
In law, one having the present seizin or pos- 
session of land by virtue of an estate greater 
than one limited by a specified time that is 
to say, having a fee or a tenancy for life of the 
tenant, or for life of a third person ; one who 
holds an estate in fee simple or fee tail. See 
freehold, 1. Under various laws in England and the 
United States, the right of suffrage and the qualification 
for some minor local official duties or trusts have been 
conferred on freeholders as distinguished from other in- 
habitants. In Scotland the term is applied to one holding 
lands of the crown. Chosen freeholders, in New Jer- 
sey, a board of county officers having charge of the finances 
of the county, corresponding to the county commissioners 
or the board of supervisors of other States. Freeholders' 
Court. Same as court-baron. 
freeing-stick (fre'ing-stik), n. A soft deal stick 
used in cutting veneers to free the teeth of the 
saw from sawdust. It is applied on the right and left 
of the blade beneath the timber while the saw is at work. 
freelage, freelege (fre'laj), n. The status of a 
freeman before the law ; the freedom or privi- 
lege of a burgess; franchise. [Rare.] 
Up to the year 1854 the admission to the freelege of this 
borough was, among other things, by "going through the 
well," a pond about a hundred feet long, by fifteen or six- 
teen wide, and three to five deep. N. and Q., 7th ser., IV. 73. 
free-lance (fre'lans), n. 1. A mercenary soldier 
during the middle ages, especially one of some 
rank, mounted and thoroughly armed and hav- 
ing followers or attendants. (Compare lance.) 
They were most conspicuous in Italy, where 
they were called condottieri. Also called free 
companion. Hence 2. A person who acts 
upon his own will and pleasure, with little re- 
gard for the conventionalities of life ; especial- 
ly, one who uses great freedom in speech or 
writing, as in indiscriminate attack upon or 
objurgation of all who disagree with him. 
freelet, A Middle English form of frail 1 . 
freelege, n. See freelage. 
free-liver (fre'liv"er), . One who eats and 
drinks abundantly ; one who gives free indul- 
gence to his appetites. 
Freelieers on a small scale, who are prodigal within the 
compass of a guinea. Irving, The Stout Gentleman. 
free-living (fre'liv"ing), n. Full gratification 
of the appetite. 
free-living (fre'liv"ing), a. 1. Living in a free 
or unrestrained manner. 2. In biol., living free 
from and independent of the parent, as a me- 
dusa-bud separated from the polyp-stock upon 
which it grew. 
free-lover (fre'luv'Sr), n. One who advocates 
the doctrines and practices of free love, 
freeltet, freelteet, Middle English forms of 
frailty. 
freelyt (fre'li), a. [< ME.frely, frelicli, freelieh, 
etc., < AS. fredlic (= OS. frilie = OFries./nKfc 
= MLG. vrittk, vrigelik = OHG. frilih, MHG. 
vrflich), free, < freo, free, + -lie, -ly 1 .] Free; 
frank; generous; noble; excellent. 
Unto that /re/?/ foode [child, creature] 
That now of newe is borne. York Plays, p. 149. 
Al liiafreli felawchipfreli the! gret. 
William of Palerne (E. E. T. S.), 1. 5329. 
For tti&t freelich freke [warrior], as I fore tolde, 
The kid Knight Pausanias, that King was of Spart. 
Alisaunder of Macedoine (E. E. T. S.), 1. 1245. 
freely (fre'li), adv. [< ME. frely,freliche, etc., 
< AS. fredlice (= D. vrijelijk = MLG. vrilike, 
vrieliken, vrigeliken = MHG. vriKche, frilichen, 
freely, G. freilich, certainly, to be sure), < fred- 
lic, a., free: see freely, a.] 1. In a free man- 
ner; under free conditions; with freedom; 
without hindrance, interference, or restraint: 
as, to move freely. 
Finally by sequestring themselues for a time fro the 
Court, to be able the freelier & cleerer to discerne the 
factions and state of the Court. 
Puttenham, Arte of Eng. Poesie, p. 251. 
The Devil may walk freely up and down the Streets of 
London now, for there is not a Cross to fright him any 
where. Howell, Letters, ill. 2. 
Temple's plan was . , . that the King should . . . suf- 
fer all his affairs of every kind to be freely debated [in 
the new Privy Council], . . . and not to reserve any part 
of the public business for a secret committee. 
Macaulay, Sir William Temple. 
2. Without constraint, reserve, or hesitation ; 
unreservedly ; frankly ; openly. 
What is 't you blench at? what would you ask? speak 
freely. Fletcher, Loyal Subject, ii. 1. 
I shall freely and bluntly tell you that I am a brother 
of the angle too, and peradventure can give you some 
instructions. Cotton, in Walton's Angler, ii. 225. 
freemasonic 
3. Without reluctance or niggardliness; will- 
ingly. 
Also the Dyamancl scholde ben zoven [given \.frrl;i, ith 
outen coveytynge and witll outen bjuji.vngi' : and than it 
is of grettere vertue. M<tn<li i:il!e, Travels, p. 159. 
Freely they stood who stood, and fell who fell. 
Mill:;,, P. L., iii. 102. 
4. Liberally; unstintedly; plentifully. 
Freely ye have received, freely give. Mat. x. 8. 
We gave them 3 or 4 Callabaslies of Wine, which they 
freely drank. linuipier, Voyages, I. IT". 
Who throw their Helicon about 
As freely as a conduit spout ! 
Cowper, Epistle to Robert Lloyd. 
5f. Nobly; excellently; admirably. 
Sche had a derworthe dongter to deme the sothe, 
On the fairest on face &m\ frelokest i-schapen, 
That euere man vpon molde mijt [on] diuise. 
William of Palerne (E. E. T. S.), 1. 2634. 
freeman (fre'man), n. ; pi. freemen (-men). [< 
ME. fremen, < AS. freoman, friman (= OFries. 
frimon = D. vrijman = OHG. friman, MHG. 
vriman), a free man, <.freo, free, + man, man.] 
1. A man who is free ; one who enjoys liberty, 
or who is not subject to the will of another; 
one not a slave or a vassal. 
For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the 
Lord's freeman. 1 Cor. vii. 22. 
In Parthia did I take thee prisoner; . . . 
Now be A freeman. Shak., }. C., v. 3. 
Corrupted freemen are the worst of slaves. 
Garrick, Pro], to Shirley's Gamester. 
Land had even then become the inseparable accompani- 
ment of the freeman, the badge and test of his freedom : 
he was & freeman because he was a land-owner. 
J. R. Green, Conq. of Eng., p. 201. 
2. One who enjoys or is entitled to citizenship, 
franchise, or other peculiar privilege: as, a free- 
man of a city or state. In olden times the posi- 
tion of such a freeman gave the right to trade in 
the place. 
The freeman casting with unpurchased hand 
The vote that shakes the turrets of the land. 
0. W. Holmes, Poetry. 
3. In early Eng. liist., a ceorl; one admitted to 
a share in the land and corporate life of the 
village community. 
The freeman [in Anglo-Saxon times] was strictly the 
freeholder, and the exercise of his full rights as a free 
memlwr of the community to which he belonged became 
inseparable from the possession of his " holding " in it. It 
was this sharing in common land which marked off the 
freeman or ceorl from the unfree man or lajt, the tiller of 
land which another owned. 
J. R. Green, Making of Eng., p. 191. 
freemartin (fre'mar"tin), n. A cow-calf twin- 
born with a bull-calf. It is generally barren, and 
when this is the case on dissection is found to have parts 
of the organs of each sex, but neither perfect. 
freemason (fre'ma'sn), n. [Not found earlier 
than mod. E. ; (.free + mason."] A member of 
an order, fraternity, or brotherhood forming 
a secret society, or series of affiliated secret 
societies called lodges, now existing in all the 
countries of Europe, in many parts of America, 
and in other parts of the world where Euro- 
peans have settled in larger or smaller commu- 
nities. This society is founded on and professes the 
practice of social and moral virtue ; truth, charity in its 
most extended sense, brotherly love, and mutual assis- 
tance being inculcated in it. It possesses an elaborate 
ritual, numerous grades of officers, and many secret signs 
and passwords, by which members may make themselves 
known to other members of the craft in any part of the 
world. Secret organizations of free or enfranchised oper- 
ative masons, with similar rituals, were formed in the 
middle ages, when skilled workmen moved from place to 
place to assist in building the magnificent sacred struc- 
tures cathedrals, abbeys, etc. which had their origin 
in those times, and it was essential for them to have some 
signs by which, on coming to a strange place, they could 
be recognized as real craftsmen and not impostors. There 
was such a society of actual masons and builders in Eng- 
land in the seventeenth century, and some persons not be- 
longing to the craft had been accepted as members of it ; 
hence the full name of the present fraternity, "Free and 
Accepted Masons" (abbreviated F. and A. M.). Modern 
freemasonry dates from the organization in 1717 of the 
four lodges then existing in London, on a new basis, into 
a grand lodge, by which other grand lodges were charter- 
ed. To mark its departure from the limited scope of the 
original society, the principles and methods of the order 
are called speculative masonry, the terms and insignia of 
operative masonry being retained. Fable, though abso- 
lutely without any historical basis, takes the history of 
the order back to the Roman empire, to the Pharaohs, to 
the building of Solomon's temple or the tower of Babel, or 
even to the building of Noah's ark. 
Some, deep Freemasons, join the silent race, 
Worthy to fill Pythagoras's place. 
Pope, Dunciad, iv. 571. 
freemasonic (fre'ma-son'ik), ft. [< freenitixfiii 
+ -ic.] Of, pertaining to, or resembling free- 
masonry. 
That mysterious, undeflnable freemasonic signal which 
passes between women, by whicli each knows that the 
other hates her. Thackeray. 
