English
freedom
Freedom comes from Middle English fredom, from Old English frēodōm, from Proto-West Germanic *frijadōm; equivalent to free + -dom.
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*frijadōm1‘freedom’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150frēodōm1‘freedom’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fredom1‘freedom’
- Englishearliest quotation 1748freedom1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English freedom
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1748, Samuel Richardson, Letter L: “I doubt not, that you will take amiss my…”.
Lineage
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*frijadōmWiktionary, English freedom‘freedom’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150frēodōmWiktionary, English freedom‘freedom’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fredomWiktionary, English freedom‘freedom’
- Englishearliest quotation 1748freedomWiktionary, English freedom. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1748, Samuel Richardson, Letter L: “I doubt not, that you will take amiss my…”
Word family
English words that share an ancestor with freedom, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.
through Proto-Indo-European *preyH- ‘to please’
- friend ← freend ← frēond ← *friund ← *frijōndz
- fray ← fraien ← affraier ← *exfridāre ← *friþu
- impropriety ← impropriété ← improprietās
through Proto-Indo-European *priHós ‘beloved’
9 more relatives in the full family tree
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Today it means
noun The state of being free.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “freedom”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-West Germanic *frijadōm / freedom