Английский Этимологический словарь - free (adj.)

- O.E. freo "free, exempt from, not in bondage," also "noble, joyful," from P.Gmc. *frijaz, from PIE *prijos "dear, beloved." The adv. is from O.E. freon, freogan "to free, love." Freedom is O.E. freodom. Freeloader first recorded 1930s; free fall is from 1919, originally of parachutists; free-hand is from 1862; free-thinker is from 1692; freelance (1820) is perhaps a coinage of Scott's, meant to suggest a medieval mercenary. Freebie dates back to 1942 as freeby, perhaps as early as 1900. Freewheeling is 1930s, from the name of a kind of automobile drive system that allowed cars to coast without being slowed by the engine.