freeborn
Americanadjective
-
born free, rather than in slavery, bondage, or vassalage.
-
pertaining to or befitting persons born free.
adjective
-
not born in slavery
-
of, relating to, or suitable for people not born in slavery
Etymology
Origin of freeborn
First recorded in 1300–50, freeborn is from the Middle English word freborn, freeborn. See free, born
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Robert—a man born in Africa, enslaved in America, and now a free farmer—and his freeborn African-American herbalist wife, Mary, had worked diligently to ensure this security for themselves and their children.
From Scientific American • Nov. 9, 2021
The musical, about freeborn Black people and newly arrived Irish immigrants coexisting peacefully, for a time, in Five Points, a New York slum, during the Civil War, focuses on a fascinating American story.
From New York Times • Sep. 17, 2021
Black Seminole Johanna July, freeborn in Mexico, became a horsebreaker on the Texas border.
From Salon • Apr. 13, 2019
According to the Declaration of Independence, all white men were equal citizens, and freeborn carpenters could teach their children that a head of false hair was nothing to be afraid of.
From Textbooks • Jan. 18, 2018
He says once someone was a slave there’s always gonna be a something in ’em that knows parts ’bout life that freeborn folks caint never know, mostly horrorific parts.
From "Elijah of Buxton" by Christopher Paul Curtis
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
