Freeman (Noun)
Meaning
A person who is not a serf or a slave.
Classification
Nouns denoting people.
Examples
- The lord granted the young peasant his freedom, elevating him from a serf to a freeman.
- After many years of bondage, the former slave was declared a freeman and walked out of the plantation a free man.
- In medieval Europe, freemen were a privileged class of people who owned land and were not required to provide labor to the lord of the manor.
- The mayor of the town was a freeman who had earned his wealth through trade and commerce rather than through inheritance.
- Following the Emancipation Proclamation, many former slaves gained their freedom and became freemen, entitled to the same rights as any other American citizen.