freeholder
Americannoun
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the owner of a freehold.
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(in some U.S. counties) a registered voter who owns local property and has been a local resident for a specified length of time.
noun
Etymology
Origin of freeholder
1325–75; Middle English freholder ( see free, holder); translation of Anglo-French fraunc tenaunt ( see frank 1, tenant)
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Under the leasehold system, people own the right to occupy a property via a lease for a limited number of years from a freeholder.
From BBC • Apr. 29, 2026
At the moment, the freeholder of a property generally owns the building and the land beneath it, outright and forever.
From BBC • Jan. 27, 2026
There are around five million leasehold homes, where people own the right to occupy the property via a lease for a certain number of years from a freeholder.
From BBC • Jan. 21, 2026
Meanwhile, a freeholder can charge for ground rent and service fees.
From BBC • Dec. 17, 2025
The Government of Jamaica was to lend to every freeholder up to the mortgage value of his land in paper notes, at 5 per cent. interest, the current rate being at present 8 per cent.
From The English in the West Indies or, The Bow of Ulysses by Froude, James Anthony
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
