free·dom
(frḗdəm)
[Middle English fredom, from Old English frēodōm, frēo, free; see free, + -dōm, -dom.]
noun
- The condition of being free of restraints.
- Liberty of the person from slavery, detention, or oppression.
- Political independence.
- Exemption from the arbitrary exercise of authority in the performance of a specific action; civil liberty: freedom of assembly.
- Exemption from an unpleasant or onerous condition: freedom from want.
- The capacity to exercise choice; free will: We have the freedom to do as we please all afternoon.
- Ease or facility of movement: loose sports clothing, giving the wearer freedom.
- Frankness or boldness; lack of modesty or reserve: the new freedom in movies and novels.
- The right to unrestricted use; full access: was given the freedom of their research facilities.
- The right of enjoying all of the privileges of membership or citizenship: the freedom of the city.
- A right or the power to engage in certain actions without control or interference: “the seductive freedoms and excesses of the picaresque form” (John W. Aldridge)
synonyms:
freedom, liberty, license These nouns refer to the power to act, speak, or think without externally imposed restraints. Freedom is the most general term: “In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free” (Abraham Lincoln) Liberty stresses the power of free choice: “liberty, perfect liberty, to think, feel, do just as one pleases” (William Hazlitt) License sometimes denotes deliberate deviation from normally applicable rules or practices to achieve a desired effect: poetic license. Frequently, though, it denotes undue freedom: “the intolerable license with which the newspapers break . . . the rules of decorum” (Edmund Burke)
