= FREE-THINKING vbl. sb.

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1711.  Shaftesb., Charac. (1737), II. 116. If it brings along with it any Affection opposite to Manhood, Generosity, Courage, or Free-Thought.

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1874.  Morley, Compromise (1886), 152. The tendency of modern free thought is more and more visibly towards the extraction of the first and more permanent elements of the old faith, to make the purified material of the new.

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1887.  Academy, 12 Nov., 314/2. At these centres of learning and freethought Russian scholars were imbued with Western ideas and encouraged to discuss the wildest theories.

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  attrib.  [1882.  Cassell, Free-thought a. of or pertaining to free-thinking.]

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Mod.  A—’s catalogue of free-thought publications.

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