a person who is free; a person who enjoys personal, civil, or political liberty.
a person who enjoys or is entitled to citizenship, franchise, or other special privilege.
a freeman of a city.
Douglas Southall 1886–1953, U.S. journalist and biographer.
Edward Augustus, 1823–92, English historian.
Mary E(leanor Wilkins), 1862–1930, U.S. novelist and short-story writer.
a male given name.
a person who is not a slave or in bondage
a person who enjoys political and civil liberties; citizen
a person who enjoys a privilege or franchise, such as the freedom of a city
before 1000; Middle English freman, Old English frēoman. See free, man
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Former footballer Luther Blissett has been made a freeman of the borough of Watford in recognition of his charity work and fight against racism.
From BBC • Mar. 11, 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
“A city slave is almost a freeman, compared with a slave on a plantation,” Douglass wrote.
From The New Yorker • Oct. 8, 2018
Armfield was made a freeman of Blackpool in 2003 and named a CBE in December 2009 for services to Lancashire.
From BBC • Feb. 8, 2018
“But I swear before all present, on my word as a freeman of the colony, that the girl is no witch.”
From "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" by Elizabeth George Speare
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.
