freeness

freeness

English

Etymology

free +‎ -ness

Noun

freeness (usually uncountable, plural freenesses)

1. The state or condition of being free (unconstrained, unconfined, unincumbered, unobstructed, or free-spirited).
   • 1722, Benjamin Franklin (as Silence Dogood), "Silence Dogood, No. 8", The New-England Courant, July 9, 1722:

     Whoever would overthrow the Liberty of a Nation, must begin by subduing the Freeness of Speech; a Thing terrible to Publick Traytors.^[sic]

   • 2021, Rivers Solomon, Sorrowland, #Merky Books, page 163:

     Vern could appreciate his freeness. He was a spirited, buoyant thing.

2. Openness; unreservedness; frankness; ingenuousness; candor.

   The freeness of a confession.

3. Liberality; generosity.

   The freeness in giving.

4. Gratuitousness.

   The freeness of divine grace.

Synonyms

• freedom

References

• freeness in An American Dictionary of the English Language, by Noah Webster, 1828.
• freeness in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911