Freedom

[free-duh m] /ˈfri dəm/

noun
1.
the state of being or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint:
He won his freedom after a retrial.
2.
exemption from external control, interference, regulation, etc.
3.
the power to determine action without restraint.
4.
political or national independence.
5.
personal liberty, as opposed to bondage or slavery:
a slave who bought his freedom.
6.
exemption from the presence of anything specified (usually followed by from):
freedom from fear.
7.
the absence of or release from ties, obligations, etc.
8.
ease or facility of movement or action:
to enjoy the freedom of living in the country.
9.
frankness of manner or speech.
10.
general exemption or immunity:
freedom from taxation.
11.
the absence of ceremony or reserve.
12.
a liberty taken.
13.
a particular immunity or privilege enjoyed, as by a city or corporation:
freedom to levy taxes.
14.
civil liberty, as opposed to subjection to an arbitrary or despotic government.
15.
the right to enjoy all the privileges or special rights of citizenship, membership, etc., in a community or the like.
16.
the right to frequent, enjoy, or use at will:
to have the freedom of a friend’s library.
17.
Philosophy. the power to exercise choice and make decisions without constraint from within or without; autonomy; self-determination.
Compare (def 7).
/ˈfriːdəm/
noun
1.
personal liberty, as from slavery, bondage, serfdom, etc
2.
liberation or deliverance, as from confinement or bondage
3.
the quality or state of being free, esp to enjoy political and civil liberties
4.
(usually foll by from) the state of being without something unpleasant or bad; exemption or immunity: freedom from taxation
5.
the right or privilege of unrestricted use or access: the freedom of a city
6.
autonomy, self-government, or independence
7.
the power or liberty to order one’s own actions
8.
(philosophy) the quality, esp of the will or the individual, of not being totally constrained; able to choose between alternative actions in identical circumstances
9.
ease or frankness of manner; candour: she talked with complete freedom
10.
excessive familiarity of manner; boldness
11.
ease and grace, as of movement; lack of effort
n.

Old English freodom “freedom, state of free will; charter, emancipation, deliverance;” see free (adj.) + -dom. Freedom-rider recorded 1961, in reference to civil rights activists in U.S. trying to integrate bus lines.

It has been said by some physicians, that life is a forced state. The same may be said of freedom. It requires efforts, it presupposes mental and moral qualities of a high order to be generally diffused in the society where it exists. [John C. Calhoun, speech, U.S. House of Representatives, Jan. 31, 1816]

Freedom Rider Situation Cuts Into Montgomery Juke, Game Revenues [headline, “Billboard,” July 24, 1961]

Freedom fighter attested by 1903 (originally with reference to Cuba).

The law of Moses pointed out the cases in which the servants of the Hebrews were to receive their freedom (Ex. 21:2-4, 7, 8; Lev. 25:39-42, 47-55; Deut. 15:12-18). Under the Roman law the “freeman” (ingenuus) was one born free; the “freedman” (libertinus) was a manumitted slave, and had not equal rights with the freeman (Acts 22:28; comp. Acts 16:37-39; 21:39; 22:25; 25:11, 12).