Meaning

noun a writer or artist who sells services to different employers without a long-term contract with any of them

verb work independently and on temporary contracts rather than for a long-term employer

adjective working for yourself

originFrom free + lance. Coined by Walter Scott (1771–1832) in Ivanhoe (1819; see quotation) to describe a medieval mercenary warrior or "free-lance" (indicating that the lance is not sworn to any lord's services). It changed to a figurative noun around the 1860s and was recognized as a verb in 1903 by authorities such as the Oxford English Dictionary. In modern times the term has morphed into an…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0