Jump To:

• freeman
  freeman

  noun

  a person who is free; a person who enjoys personal, civil, or political liberty.
• Freeman
  Freeman

  noun

  Douglas Southall 1886–1953, U.S. journalist and biographer.

freeman

¹ American  

[free-muhn] / ˈfri mən /

noun

• freemen
  plural

1. a person who is free; a person who enjoys personal, civil, or political liberty.

2. a person who enjoys or is entitled to citizenship, franchise, or other special privilege.

   a freeman of a city.

---

Freeman ² American  

[free-muhn] / ˈfri mən /

noun

1. Douglas Southall 1886–1953, U.S. journalist and biographer.

2. Edward Augustus, 1823–92, English historian.

3. Mary E(leanor Wilkins), 1862–1930, U.S. novelist and short-story writer.

4. a male given name.

---

freeman ¹ British  

/ ˈfriːmən /

noun

1. a person who is not a slave or in bondage

2. a person who enjoys political and civil liberties; citizen

3. a person who enjoys a privilege or franchise, such as the freedom of a city

---

Freeman ² British  

/ ˈfriːmən /

noun

1. Cathy, full name Catherine Astrid Salome Freeman . born 1973, Australian sprinter; winner of the 200m and 400m in the 1994 Commonwealth Games and the 400m in the 2000 Olympic Games

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonfreeman
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• freemen
  plural

---

Etymology

Origin of freeman

before 1000; Middle English freman, Old English frēoman. See free, man

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

freeman Freeman freemen

So, on 11 March 1972, the man who millions had watched make his "giant leap" on the lunar surface became a freeman of a town then probably best known for its thriving textile mills.

From BBC ● Mar. 10, 2022

Obviously its modern use was different said the historian, who was himself made a freeman of Exeter in 2018 for his work to uncover the city's and region's past.

From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2021

I hesitated to include this 2013 drama, directed by Steve McQueen and adapted from the memoirs of Solomon Northup, an African-American freeman enslaved and sent to the South.

From New York Times ● Dec. 30, 2019

“You are a fool, young man,” stormed New York Federalist Judge William Cooper to one sturdy freeman in 1792.

From Textbooks ● Jan. 18, 2018

As Caesar rubbed her feet, the widow encouraged him to cultivate a skill, one that would serve him in good stead as a freeman.

From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead

I need to channel my inner Morgan Freeman, from the film “Se7en”: “Ernest Hemingway once wrote, ‘The world is a fine place and worth fighting for.’

From Salon ● Oct. 30, 2026

Its original owner, George Freeman Pollock, was instrumental in the establishment of Shenandoah National Park in 1926.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026

ONS deputy director of labour market statistics, David Freeman, said the labour market remained "broadly flat", with the latest data showing the employment rate edging up and "a small drop in unemployment".

From BBC ● Oct. 20, 2026

“We didn’t play to our standard,” Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 18, 2026

Mr. Freeman throws his hands in the air.

From "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson

A common species hunted by freemen and fugitives was the sperm whale, which was most famously represented as Moby Dick.

From Scientific American ● Jun. 17, 2022

In its bid for city status, the application from Bangor said it was the first council in Northern Ireland to add health and social care staff to its list of freemen of the borough.

From BBC ● May 19, 2022

Taking up the cry, mass rallies denounced the Kansas-Nebraska Act throughout the North, more convinced than ever that a Slave Power conspiracy would bar northern freemen from the West.

From Textbooks ● Jan. 18, 2018

It’s the latest in an old fight, one that goes back to our Reconstruction, when freedmen, freemen, and their white allies tried to build true democracy in the former Confederacy.

From Slate ● Feb. 6, 2017

Longshoremen of the Sea-Guild of Neshum came aboard to unload the cargo—gold, silver, jewelry, fine silks and Southern tapestries, such precious stuff as the lords of Osskil hoard—and the freemen of the crew were dismissed.

From "A Wizard of Earthsea" by Ursula K. Le Guin

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---