freelance
freelance Lexical Profile
freelance Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Working independently for various companies or clients on a contract or project basis rather than being permanently employed by a single organization.
"The magazine relies heavily on freelance journalists and photographers to cover international events."
• verb
To earn one's living as an independent contractor or self-employed professional working for various clients.
"He decided to freelance as a software developer so he could set his own schedule."
• adverb
On a self-employed, independent basis for multiple clients rather than as a permanent employee.
"After leaving the advertising agency, she worked freelance for several years while traveling abroad."
• noun
A self-employed person who pursues a profession without a long-term commitment to any single employer; a freelancer.
"The publishing house hired an experienced freelance to proofread the manuscript before printing."
In medieval history, a mercenary soldier or knight who owed allegiance to no specific lord and offered military services for pay.
"During the fourteenth century, many a wandering freelance fought for whichever Italian city-state offered the highest coin."
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Coined in the early 19th century (popularized by Sir Walter Scott in his 1819 novel 'Ivanhoe') as 'free lance', referring to a medieval mercenary knight or horseman whose lance was not sworn to any single feudal lord's service.