FromMiddle English-fre,-freo (as inscotfre,gauelfre,gafolfreo, etc.), fromOld English-frēo("free; free from"; as inscotfrēo,gafolfrēo), fromProto-West Germanic*-frī(“-free”). CompareDutch-vrij(“-free”),German-frei(“-free”),Danish-fri(“-free”),Swedish-fri(“-free”),Norwegian-fri(“-free”). More atfree.
-free
- Free from;devoid of;without.
2022 March 25, Sandee LaMotte, “Dangerous chemicals found in food wrappers at major fast-food restaurants and grocery chains, report says”, inCNN[1]:Sweetgreen told CNN the company was “proud to share that we are currently in the process of rolling out new PFAS-free focaccia bags that will be available in all Sweetgreen locations by the end of Q2.”
- In words where the suffix-less implies a lack of something thatshould be there,-free is sometimes used to reframe that absence as an intentional or beneficial state. For example,childless andchildfree,saltless andsaltfree, orcarless andcarfree.
See also translations of individual words formed from this combining form
