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.
Converting a block to commonhold means transferring ownership from the freeholder to the residents, and how existing freeholders should be compensated is disputed.
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026
A freeholder can seek to repossess someone's home if a leaseholder doesn't pay service charges, something that will also be abolished under the reforms.
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026
It says it's "expected to be available in 2029"- which means, from that date, flat owners will purchase their home and the building and land beneath it, rather than it being owned by a freeholder.
From BBC ● May 13, 2026
The bill would also ban the sale of new leasehold flats and cap ground rents - an annual fee leaseholders must pay to their freeholder - at £250 a year.
From BBC ● Apr. 29, 2026
I'm not so stupid; I know that it's night now and the freeholder and his wife are come.
From On the Heights A Novel by Berthold Auerbach
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.
