freeman

¹ American  

[free-muhn] / ˈfri mən /

noun

plural

freemen

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.

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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.

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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

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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

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Other Word Forms

• nonfreeman noun

Etymology

Origin of freeman

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

Example Sentences

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

In addition to Article 61, this includes bizarre sounding and legally invalid concepts like "freeman on the land", "sovereign citizens" and "legal name fraud".

From BBC • Mar. 5, 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

While at the Pension Office, Jennings met a man named John Brooks Russell, a black freeman from Massachusetts.

From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis