Freedom

Forms: 1 fréodóm, frýdóm, 3–4 freodom, -dam, 4 south. vridom, 2–6 fredom(e, 4–5 fre(e)dam, (4 fredame), 6–7 freedome, 7 freedoom, Sc. friedome, 4– freedom. [OE. fréodóm: see FREE a. and -DOM.]

  1.  Exemption or release from slavery or imprisonment; personal liberty. † Letter of freedom: a document emancipating a slave.

c. 1230.  Hali Meid., 5. Nis ha þenne sariliche … akast & in to þewdom idrahen, þat fram se muchel hehscipe & se seli freodom schal lihte se lahe in to a monnes þeowdom.

1382.  Wyclif, Deut. xv. 13. And whom wiþ freedam þow ȝyuest, þou shalt not suffre to goon awey voyd.

1596.  Spenser, F. Q., V. v. 57.

1613.  Purchas, Pilgrimage (1614), 295. They will write anything for monie, as letters of freedome for servants to runne away from their Masters.

1659.  D. Pell, Impr. Sea, 298. Taken by the Turks, and … have set their heads on work how to get their freedoms again.

1781.  Cowper, Charity, 171.

1880.  E. Kirke, Garfield, 38/3. In the very crisis of our fate God brought us face to face with the alarming truth that we must lose our own freedom or grant it to the slave.

  b.  fig. Liberation from the bondage of sin.

c. 1050.  Byrhtferth’s Handboc, in Anglia (1885), VIII. 320. Wilnigende mid þissum þeowdome, cuman to ecum freodome.

1340.  Ayenb., 86. Þe oþer uridom is þe ilke þet habbeþ þe guodemen in þise wor[d]le, þet god heþ yvryd be grace and be uirtue, uram þe þreldome of þe dyeule and of zenne.

1526.  Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 4 b. From the thraldome of the princes of the world to the fredome of glory & kyngdome of god.

  2.  Exemption from arbitrary, despotic, or autocratic control; independence; civil liberty.

1375.  Barbour, Bruce, I. 225.

1606.  Holland, Sueton., 42. They died for the Libertie and Free-dome of their Cittie.

1715.  Swipt, Drapier’s Lett., v. Wks. 1761, III. 97. Freedom consists in a people’s being governed by laws made with their own consent, and slavery in the contrary.

1780.  Cowper, Table Talk, 284.

1817.  Byron, Beppo, xlvii.

1850.  Tennyson, In Mem., cix.

  † 3.  The quality of being free or noble; nobility, generosity, liberality. Obs.

c. 1320.  Cast. Love, 145.

c. 1386.  Chaucer, Monk’s T., 564.

c. 1430.  Pilgr. Lyf Manhode, I. lxxx. (1869), 47. Nay but me shulde thinke suich a yifte ful of gret fredom and of wurship and and of gret curteysye.

1500–30.  Dunbar, Poems, xxi. 28. On fredome is laid foirfaltour.

c. 1530.  Calisto & Melib., C i a. With grace indewid in fredome as alexandre.

  4.  The state of being able to act without hindrance or restraint, liberty of action.

c. 1400.  Maundev., xvii. (1839), 193. Fissches, that han fredom to enviroun alle the Costes of the See, at here owne list, comen of hire owne wille to profren hem to the dethe.

1588.  Shaks., Tit. A., I. i. 17. And Romanes, fight for Freedome in your Choice.

1633.  Bp. Hall, Hard Texts, 513. A mighty King, even Alexander of Macedon, shall stand out against him, and shal over-throw the Persians; and shall rule very powerfully, & with great freedom, and absolutenesse.

1718.  Free-thinker, No. 1, 24 March, ¶ 5. Freedom of Thought is like Freedom in Actions: To enjoy the one or the other in Perfection, it must be subjected to proper Laws and Regulations.

1878.  Jevons, Prim. Pol. Econ., 67. Men are free to refuse to labour, but it is absolutely necessary to maintain at the same time the freedom of other men to labour if they like.

1885.  L’pool Daily Post, 7 July, 4/4. The Government’s freedom of action was limited by the fact that they came into negotiations partly concluded.

  5.  The quality of being free from the control of fate or necessity; the power of self-determination attributed to the will.

c. 888.  K. Ælfred, Boeth., xli. § 2. Þu seȝist þæt God sylle ællcum frydom [MS. Cott. freodom] swa god to donne swa yfel.

1340.  Ayenb., 86. Uri-wyl huer-by he may chyese and do uryliche oþer þet guod oþer þet kuead. éerne uridom he halt of god.

1690.  Locke, Hum. Und., II. xxi. § 27. 123. In this then consists Freedom, (viz.) in our being able to act, or not to act, according as we shall chuse, or will.

1855.  Bain, The Emotions and the Will, xi. (1859), 544. The doctrine of Freedom was first elaborated into a metaphysical scheme, implying its opposite Necessity, by St. Augustin against Pelagius.

1884.  Bosanquet, trans. Lotze’s Metaphysic, 420. The appeal to the freedom which is said to characterise mental life, and is distinguished from the necessity of nature, has no weight.

  † 6.  Readiness or willingness to act. Obs.

a. 1626.  Bacon, New Atl. (1627), 18. We found such Humanity, and such a Freedome and desire, to take Strangers, as it were, into their Bosome.

1697.  Dampier, Voy. (1729), I. 502. I had been accustomed to hardships and hazards, therefore I did with much freedom undertake it.

  7.  Frankness, openness, familiarity (in intercourse or conversation); outspokenness.

1699.  M. Lister, Journ. Paris, 67. I had not that freedom of Conversation as I could have wisht with both of them.

1705.  Addison, Italy, 86. They are generally too distrustful of one another for the Freedoms that are used in such kind of Conversations.

1792.  Burke, Corr., 1844, IV. 32–3. I talked a great deal to him with the freedom I have long used to him on this and on other subjects.

1887.  F. Darwin, Life & Lett. C. Darwin (1887), I. 18. He was generally in high spirits, and laughed and joked with every one—often with his servants—with the utmost freedom; yet he had the art of making every one obey him to the letter.

  b.  The overstepping of due or customary bounds in speech or behavior; undue familiarity. Phr. to take the freedom (to do something).

1618.  Fletcher, Loyal Subj., II. i.

1648.  Boyle, Seraph. Love, i. (1700), 9. This Love, I have taken the freedom to style Seraphick Love,… borrowing the name from … those Nobler Spirits of the Cœlestial Hierarchy.

1681.  Otway, Soldier’s Fort., II. i. Let her alone to make the best use of those innocent Freedoms I allow her, without putting her Reputation in Hazard.

1712.  Steele, Spect., No. 492, 24 Sept., ¶ 1. The young Women who run into greater Freedoms with the Men are more taken Notice of than I am.

1854.  J. S. C. Abbott, Napoleon (1855), I. xvi. 286–7. When the officers do not eat or drink, or take too many freedoms with the seamen, I see no necessity for any greater distinctions.

  8.  Of action, activity, etc.; Ease, facility, absence of encumbrance.

1613.  Shaks., Hen. VIII., V. i. 103. You cannot with such freedome purge your selfe.

1705.  De Foe, in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden), 322. I humbly thank your Lordship for the freedom of access you were pleas’d to give my messenger.

1860.  Tyndall, Glac., II. iii. 243. While the sun’s rays penetrate our atmosphere with freedom, the change which they undergo in warming the earth deprives them in a measure of this penetratinng power.

  9.  Boldness or vigor of conception or execution.

1643.  Howell, Lett., I. VI. lvi. (1655), 303. I alwaies lov’d you for the freedom of your Genius, for those choice parts and fancies I found in you.

1782.  Cowper, Table-talk, 700.

1842.  Rogers, Introd. Burke’s Wks. (1842), I. 11. For by knowing … what was to be done in every figure they designed, they naturally attained a freedom and spirit of outline.

  10.  Physics. Capability of motion. Degree of freedom: an independent mode in which a body may be displaced.

1879.  Thomson & Tait, Nat. Phil., I. I. § 197. Taking next the case of a free rigid body, we have evidently six degrees of freedom to consider—three independent translations in rectangular directions as a point has, and three independent rotations about three mutually rectangular axes.

  11.  The state of not being affected by (a defect, disadvantage, etc.); exemption from.

1606.  Shaks., Ant. & Cl., I. iii. 57.

1613.  Purchas, Pilgrimage (1614), 62. Their Idols were pleased with these things, promising to the doers long life, health, plentie of fruits, raines, trees, freedome from losses, and the like.

1756.  Burke, Subl. & B., I. xiii. The contemplation of our own freedom from the evils which we see represented.

1839.  Miss Mitford, in L’Estrange, Life (1870), III. vii. 99. The Sedgwicks are very likeable, and there is a freedom from cant about the authoress, which considering the do-me-good nature of her books, I could not have anticipated.

  12.  Exemption from a specific burden, charge, or service; an immunity, privilege; = FRANCHISE sb. 2 b.

c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 41. We eow wulleð suteliche seggen of þa fredome þe limpeþ to þan deie þe is iclepeð su sunedei.

c. 1205.  Lay., 22221.

1386.  [see FRANCHISE sb. 2 b].

1387.  Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), III. 61. He graunted hem fredom [immunitatem] þat dede þat deede.

1534.  Whitinton, Tullyes Offices, I. (1540), 24. Many thynges be commune to cytezyns amonge them selfe, as … fredomes, iudgementes, voyces in elections.

1675.  Essex Papers (Camden), I. 315. That all y^e auntient freemen of y^e respective Corporacions should enjoy their former freedoms and Priviledges.

1711.  T. Madox, Hist. & Antiq. Excheq., 524. K. John, anno Regui 2⁰, granted to Robert de Lisieux and his heirs, Quittance or Freedom from Tallage.

1719.  W. Wood, Surv. Trade, 9. All Foreigners might freely come and reside in any Part of this Kingdom … with the like Privileges and Freedoms as our selves.

1839.  Keightley, Hist. Eng., I. 332. The commons strengthened most of their rights and privileges in this reign [Henry IV.’s] and acquired new ones. Such, for instance, was freedom from arrest, a privilege at that time necessary for the cause of liberty, but which at the present day only serves to enable poor or dishonest members to baffle their creditors, and thus brings into or keeps in parliament men who should not be there.

  b.  A privilege possessed by a city, a corporation, etc. Cf. FRANCHISE sb. 2 a.

1596.  Shaks., Merch. V., IV. i. 35.

1612.  Drayton, Poly-olb., xi. 180. The great Freedoms then those kings to these [Universities] did giue.

1673.  Temple, Observ. United Prov., Wks. 1731, I. 9. Under the same Counts were either founded or restored many Cities and Towns; of which the Old had their ancient Freedoms and Jurisdictions confirmed, or others annexed.

  † c.  A city or corporation possessing such immunity. Also, the district over which the immunity extends; the ‘liberties.’ Cf. FRANCHISE sb. 5. Obs.

1579.  Twyne, Phisicke agst. Fort., II. Ep. Ded. 160 b. The actes and lawes of certeine Municipies or freedomes.

1766.  Entick, London, IV. 306. Passing over Tower-hill, they come again into the freedom.

  13.  The right of participating in the privileges attached to: a. membership of a company or trade; b. citizenship of a town or city; often conferred honoris causa upon eminent persons. Also, the document or diploma conferring such freedom.

  a.  c. 1744.  Parl. Bill, in Hanway, Trav. (1762), I. V. lxxi. 323. All persons, subjects of this realm of England, being mere merchants, above the age of twenty-six years, should be admitted into the freedom of the said company, upon paying a fine of fifty pounds.

1746.  H. Walpole, Lett. Mann, 1 Aug. It was lately proposed in the city to present him [the Duke of Hamilton] with the freedom of some company.

  b.  1579, 1606.  [see FRANCHISE sb. 4].

1748.  Smollett, Rod. Rand. (1812), l. 500. The magistrates intended next day to compliment us with the freedom of their town.

1772.  Wesley, Jrnl., 28 April. They did me an honour I never thought of,—presented me with the freedom of the city.

1864.  H. Ainsworth, John Law, VI. iii. The freedom of his native city of Edinburgh was transmitted to him in a valuable gold box.

1885.  Act 48 & 49 Vict., c. 29. An Act to enable Municipal Corporations to confer the Honorary Freedom of Boroughs upon persons of distinction.

  c.  The liberty or right to practice a trade; also the ‘fine’ paid for this: see freedom-fine.

1712.  Arbuthnot, John Bull, I. iv. Lewis Baboon had taken up the Trade of Clothier and Draper, without serving his Time or purchasing his Freedom.

1759.  Goldsm., Bee, No. 5, 3 Nov., ¶ 20. Exclusive of the masters, there are numberless faulty expenses among the workmen,—clubs, garnishes, freedoms, and such like impositions.

  d.  Freedom of the Rule (Sc.), liberty granted to a Scotch advocate to plead at the English bar.

1820.  Scott, Ivanhoe, Introd. Ivanhoe was highly successful upon its appearance, and may be said to have procured for its Author the freedom of the Rules, since he has ever since been permitted to exercise his powers of fictitious composition in England as well as Scotland.

  e.  transf. Unrestricted use of.

1652.  Needham, trans. Selden’s Mare Cl., 155. Justinian appropriated the Hellespont to himself in such a manner, that hee would not permit Merchants and Sea-men to enjoy a freedom of that Sea and the Ports, but at an extraordinarie rate.

1697.  Dampier, Voy., I. xix. 528. They having the freedom of our Ship, to go to and fro between Decks, made prized of what they could lay their Hands on.

1862.  Burton, Book-Hunter (1863), 48. Having conferred on you the freedom of his library, he will not concern himself by observing how you use it.

  14.  Sc. A piece of common land allotted to a free-man.

1805.  Forsyth, Beauties Scotl., II. 473. Each of these freemen possesses what is called a lot or freedom, containing about four acres of arable land.

1861.  Howie, Hist. Acc. Ayr, v. 46. The Newton people, who purchased the lands from their Prestwick neighbours, divided them into forty-eight portions—one for each. These were denominated ‘freedoms,’ and were common property among the burghers.

  15.  attrib. and Comb., as freedom-loving adj.; freedom-fine, a payment made on being admitted to the freedom of a city, guild or corporation.

1882.  Cassell, Freedom-fine.

1884.  Miss Hickson, Irel. 17th C., I. Introd. 14–5. The Ulster of to-day … filled with the sturdy, industrious, freedom-loving men of the mixed race.

  Hence † Freedom v. trans., to set free. Also Freedomless a., without freedom; † Freedomship, investiture with a freedom.

1548.  Gest, Pr. Masse, 107. Christe mourdered broken and offered was the meane wherwyth we be fredomed frome ye thraldome of our spyrtual Pharae ye devyll.

1583.  Golding, Calvin on Deut. cxxxvi. 838. Baptisme … was ministred with such reuerence, that … the Congregation was assembled together, as if one were to receiue an holy freedomship.

1821.  Byron, Irish Avatar, iii.