Etymology 21: free (adj.)

Coming from the Old English word "freo" meaning "free, exempt from, not in bondage," also "noble, joyful." The adverb is also from the Old English language. The words "freon" and "freogan" mean "to free or love." The primary sense seems to have been "beloved, friend, to love;" which in some languages, like the Celtic, developed also a sense of "free," perhaps from the terms "beloved" or "friend" being applied to the free members of one's clan (as opposed to slaves). There is a sense of "given without cost." In terms of nations,it would mean, "not subject to foreign rule or to despotism." Or, at least that is how it would have been defined in the 14th century.