Source etymology 1 · variant 1/2
Original entry ↗Unconstrained. · Not imprisoned or enslaved. · Generous; liberal. · Clear of offence or crime; guiltless; innocent.
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *preyH- Proto-Indo-European *-ós Proto-Indo-European *priHós Proto-Germanic *frijwaz Proto-West Germanic *friu Old English frēo Middle English fre English free From Middle English fre, from Old English frēo, frēoh, frī, friġ, frīoh (“free”), from Proto-West Germanic *frī, from Proto-Germanic *frijaz (“beloved, not in bondage”), from Proto-Indo-European *priHós (“pleased, loved”), from *preyH- (“to please; to love”). Related to friend. cognates, etc Germanic cognates include Scots fre (“free”), North Frisian frai, frei, fri, Frii (“free”), Saterland Frisian fräi (“free”), West Frisian frij (“free”), Dutch vrij (“free”), German frei (“free”), Low German free (“free”), Luxembourgish fräi (“free”), Vilamovian frȧj (“free”), Yiddish פֿרײַ (fray, “free”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish fri (“free”), Faroese fríur (“free”), Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌴𐌹𐍃 (freis, “free”). Other cognates include Cornish rydh (“free”), Welsh rhydd (“free”), Latin propriō (“to appropriate”), Czech přát (“to wish; to favour”), Polish sprzyjać (“to favour, foster”), Serbo-Croatian прѝјати, prìjati (“to please, taste, suit; to be agreeable, relish”), Slovak priať (“to wish”), Avestan 𐬟𐬭𐬌𐬌𐬀 (friia, “good, pleasant”), Persian فری (fari, “beloved, dear; agreeable, pleasing”), Sanskrit प्रिय (priya, “beloved”). Germanic and Celtic are the only Indo-European language branches in which the PIE word with the meaning of "dear, beloved" acquired the additional meaning of "free" in the sense of "not in bondage". This was an extension of the idea of "characteristic of those who are dear and beloved", in other words friends and tribe members (in contrast to unfree inhabitants from other tribes and prisoners of war, many of which were among the slaves – compare the Latin use of liberi to mean both "free persons" and "children of a family").
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
- Inherited-form mentionfreenm
- Inherited-form mentionfrēoang
- Inherited-form mention*frīgmw-pro
- Inherited-form mention*frijazgem-pro · beloved, not in bondage
- Inherited-form mention*priHósine-pro · pleased, loved
- Cognate mentionfresco · free
- Cognate mentionfraifrr
- Cognate mentionfräistq · free
- Cognate mentionfrijfy · free
- Cognate mentionvrijnl · free
- Cognate mentionfreide · free
- Cognate mentionfreends · free
- Cognate mentionfräilb · free
- Cognate mentionfrȧjwym · free
- Cognate mentionפֿרײַyi · free
- Cognate mentionfríurfo · free
- Cognate mention𐍆𐍂𐌴𐌹𐍃got · free
- Cognate mentionrydhkw · free
- Cognate mentionrhyddcy · free
- Cognate mentionpropriōla · to appropriate
- Cognate mentionpřátcs · to wish; to favour
- Cognate mentionsprzyjaćpl · to favour, foster
- Cognate mentionпрѝјатиsh
- Cognate mentionpriaťsk · to wish
- Cognate mention𐬟𐬭𐬌𐬌𐬀ae · good, pleasant
- Cognate mentionفریfa · beloved, dear; agreeable, pleasing
- Cognate mentionप्रियsa · beloved
This page abbreviates 25 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
"templates": [
{
"name": "etymon",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": ":inh",
"3": "enm:fre",
"id": "adjective",
"tree": "1"
},
"expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *preyH-\nProto-Indo-European *-ós\nProto-Indo-European *priHós\nProto-Germanic *frijwaz\nProto-West Germanic *friu\nOld English frēo\nMiddle English fre\nEnglish free\n[Appendix:Glossary#inherited|Inherited]] from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*frijaz\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-West Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*friu\", \"status\" : \"inline\", \"lang\" : \"gmw-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"frēo\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"fre\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"free\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-id=\"adjective\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"free\" id=\"English:_adjective\">"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "fre"
},
"expansion": "Middle English fre"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ang",
"3": "frēo"
},
"expansion": "Old English frēo"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gmw-pro",
"3": "*frī"
},
"expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *frī"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*frijaz",
"t": "beloved, not in bondage"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *frijaz (“beloved, not in bondage”)"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*priHós",
"t": "pleased, loved"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *priHós (“pleased, loved”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "sco",
"2": "fre",
"t": "free"
},
"expansion": "Scots fre (“free”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "frr",
"2": "frai"
},
"expansion": "North Frisian frai"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "stq",
"2": "fräi",
"t": "free"
},
"expansion": "Saterland Frisian fräi (“free”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "fy",
"2": "frij",
"t": "free"
},
"expansion": "West Frisian frij (“free”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nl",
"2": "vrij",
"t": "free"
},
"expansion": "Dutch vrij (“free”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "de",
"2": "frei",
"t": "free"
},
"expansion": "German frei (“free”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nds",
"2": "free",
"t": "free"
},
"expansion": "Low German free (“free”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "lb",
"2": "fräi",
"t": "free"
},
"expansion": "Luxembourgish fräi (“free”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "wym",
"2": "frȧj",
"t": "free"
},
"expansion": "Vilamovian frȧj (“free”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "yi",
"2": "פֿרײַ",
"t": "free"
},
"expansion": "Yiddish פֿרײַ (fray, “free”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "da,nb,nn,sv",
"2": "fri",
"t": "free"
},
"expansion": "Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish fri (“free”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "fo",
"2": "fríur",
"t": "free"
},
"expansion": "Faroese fríur (“free”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "got",
"2": "𐍆𐍂𐌴𐌹𐍃",
"t": "free"
},
"expansion": "Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌴𐌹𐍃 (freis, “free”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "kw",
"2": "rydh",
"t": "free"
},
"expansion": "Cornish rydh (“free”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "cy",
"2": "rhydd",
"t": "free"
},
"expansion": "Welsh rhydd (“free”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "la",
"2": "propriō",
"t": "to appropriate"
},
"expansion": "Latin propriō (“to appropriate”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "cs",
"2": "přát",
"t": "to wish; to favour"
},
"expansion": "Czech přát (“to wish; to favour”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "pl",
"2": "sprzyjać",
"t": "to favour, foster"
},
"expansion": "Polish sprzyjać (“to favour, foster”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "sh",
"2": "прѝјати"
},
"expansion": "Serbo-Croatian прѝјати"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "sk",
"2": "priať",
"t": "to wish"
},
"expansion": "Slovak priať (“to wish”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "ae",
"2": "𐬟𐬭𐬌𐬌𐬀",
"t": "good, pleasant"
},
"expansion": "Avestan 𐬟𐬭𐬌𐬌𐬀 (friia, “good, pleasant”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "fa",
"2": "فری",
"tr": "fari",
"t": "beloved, dear; agreeable, pleasing"
},
"expansion": "Persian فری (fari, “beloved, dear; agreeable, pleasing”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "sa",
"2": "प्रिय",
"t": "beloved"
},
"expansion": "Sanskrit प्रिय (priya, “beloved”)"
},
{
"name": "etymon",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": ":inh",
"3": "enm:fre",
"id": "adjective",
"tree": "1"
},
"expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *preyH-\nProto-Indo-European *-ós\nProto-Indo-European *priHós\nProto-Germanic *frijwaz\nProto-West Germanic *friu\nOld English frēo\nMiddle English fre\nEnglish free"
}
],
"links": [
[
"*preyH-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/preyH-"
],
[
"*-ós",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/-ós#Proto-Indo-European:_e-grade"
],
[
"*priHós",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/priHós"
],
[
"*frijwaz",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/frijaz"
],
[
"*friu",
"Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/friu"
],
[
"frēo",
"freo#Old_English:_free"
],
[
"fre",
"fre#Middle_English"
],
[
"fre",
"fre#Middle_English"
],
[
"frēo",
"freo#Old_English"
],
[
"frēoh",
"freoh#Old_English"
],
[
"frī",
"fri#Old_English"
],
[
"friġ",
"frig#Old_English"
],
[
"frīoh",
"frioh#Old_English"
],
[
"*frī",
"Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/frī"
],
[
"*frijaz",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/frijaz"
],
[
"*priHós",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/priHós"
],
[
"*preyH-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/preyH-"
],
[
"friend",
"friend#English"
],
[
"fre",
"fre#Scots"
],
[
"frai",
"frai#North_Frisian"
],
[
"frei",
"frei#North_Frisian"
],
[
"fri",
"fri#North_Frisian"
],
[
"Frii",
"Frii#North_Frisian"
],
[
"fräi",
"fräi#Saterland_Frisian"
],
[
"frij",
"frij#West_Frisian"
],
[
"vrij",
"vrij#Dutch"
],
[
"frei",
"frei#German"
],
[
"free",
"free#Low_German"
],
[
"fräi",
"fräi#Luxembourgish"
],
[
"frȧj",
"fraj#Vilamovian"
],
[
"פֿרײַ",
"פֿרײַ#Yiddish"
],
[
"Danish",
"fri#Danish"
],
[
"Norwegian Bokmål",
"fri#Norwegian_Bokmål"
],
[
"Norwegian Nynorsk",
"fri#Norwegian_Nynorsk"
],
[
"fri",
"fri#Swedish"
],
[
"fríur",
"fríur#Faroese"
],
[
"𐍆𐍂𐌴𐌹𐍃",
"𐍆𐍂𐌴𐌹𐍃#Gothic"
],
[
"rydh",
"rydh#Cornish"
],
[
"rhydd",
"rhydd#Welsh"
],
[
"propriō",
"proprio#Latin"
],
[
"přát",
"přát#Czech"
],
[
"sprzyjać",
"sprzyjać#Polish"
],
[
"прѝјати",
"пријати#Serbo-Croatian"
],
[
"prìjati",
"prijati#Serbo-Croatian"
],
[
"priať",
"priať#Slovak"
],
[
"𐬟𐬭𐬌𐬌𐬀",
"𐬟𐬭𐬌𐬌𐬀#Avestan"
],
[
"فری",
"فری#Persian"
],
[
"प्रिय",
"प्रिय#Sanskrit"
],
[
"liberi",
"liberi"
],
[
"therefore",
"therefore"
],
[
"half and half",
"half and half"
]
],
"references": [],
"descendants": [
{
"lang": "Fiji Hindi",
"lang_code": "hif",
"word": "firii",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
]
}
],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "adj",
"glosses": [
"Unconstrained.",
"Not imprisoned or enslaved.",
"Generous; liberal.",
"Clear of offence or crime; guiltless; innocent."
],
"tags": [
"obsolete"
],
"recordId": "d6bbc05d787c56a471cd050b05a30a2fa2b9f6135645e4f66faf6497d91f89b0",
"rawRecordSha256": "75d9edf022309e71b632e1331c5f0295b91a9f5cdadf6330eb2fd8181fb0c230",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 3
}
],
"omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
"templates": 0,
"links": 0,
"references": 0,
"descendants": 0,
"lexicalRecords": 0,
"lexicalSenses": 25,
"glosses": 0
}
}