freelance

• free-lance

From free +‎ lance. Coined by Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832) in Ivanhoe (1820) to describe a medieval mercenary warrior or "free-lance" (indicating that the lance is not sworn to any lord's services). It changed to a figurative noun around the 1860s and was recognized as a verb in 1903 by authorities such as the Oxford English Dictionary. In modern times the term has morphed into an adjective, a verb, and an adverb, as well as the derivative noun freelancer.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈfɹiːlɑːns/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈfɹiˌlæns/

freelance (plural freelances)

1. Someone who sells their services to employers without a long-term contract.
2. (historical) A medieval mercenary.

• (medieval mercenary): see Thesaurus:mercenary

• freelancer

freelance (comparative more freelance, superlative most freelance)

1. Of, or relating to a freelance; without contract.

   He was a freelance writer for several magazines.

freelance (third-person singular simple present freelances, present participle freelancing, simple past and past participle freelanced)

1. (intransitive) To work as a freelance.
2. (transitive) To produce or sell services as a freelance.

freelance (invariable)

1. freelance