Unfree
adj, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A person lacking freedom, such as a tenant bound to a manor. historical
"The commissioners then proceeded to consider the various petitions and remonstrances of the unfrees, and to determine the amount to be levied from each."
- 1 Not free; lacking freedom, especially (historical) of a tenant who was bound to a manor.
"By the time of the Nibelungenlied the word was used to denote a wide variety of usually ecclesiastic or royal administrators, from the lowest, unfree ministerial to an enfeoffed judge."
- 1 hampered and not free; not able to act at will wordnet
- 2 held in servitude wordnet
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"By the time of the Nibelungenlied the word was used to denote a wide variety of usually ecclesiastic or royal administrators, from the lowest, unfree ministerial to an enfeoffed judge."
Etymology
From Middle English unfre, from Old English [Term?], from Proto-West Germanic *unfrī; cognates include Middle High German unfrī (German unfrei), Middle Low German unvrī, Middle Dutch onvri (Dutch onvrij). By surface analysis, un- + free.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.