| 释义 |
freedom|ˈfriːdəm|
Forms: 1 fréodóm, frýdóm, 3–4 freodom, -dam, 4 south. vridom, 2–6 fredom(e, 4–5 fre(e)dam, (4 fredame), 6–7 freedome, 7 freedoom, Sc. friedome, 4– freedom.
[OE. fréodóm: see free a. and -dom.]
1. a. Exemption or release from slavery or imprisonment; personal liberty. † letter of freedom: a document emancipating a slave.
c1230Hali Meid. 5 Nis ha þenne sariliche..akast & in to þewdom idrahen, þat fram se muchel hehscipe & se seli freodom schal lihte se lahe in to a monnes þeowdom. 1382Wyclif Deut. xv. 13 And whom with freedam thow ȝyuest, thou shalt not suffre to goon awey voyd. 1596Spenser F.Q. v. v. 57 Thus he long while in thraldome there remayned..Untill his owne true love his freedome gayned. 1613Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 295 They will write any thing for monie, as letters of freedome for servants to runne away from their Masters. 1659D. Pell Impr. Sea 298 Taken by the Turks, and..have set their heads on work how to get their freedoms again. 1782Cowper Charity 172 Neither age nor force Can quell the love of freedom in a horse. 1880E. Kirke Garfield 38 Face to face with the alarming truth that we must lose our own freedom or grant it to the slave.
b. fig. Liberation from the bondage of sin.
c1050Byrhtferth's Handboc in Anglia (1885) VIII. 320 Wilniᵹende mid þissum þeowdome, cuman to ecum freodome. 1340Ayenb. 86 Þe oþer uridom is þe ilke þet habbeþ þe guodemen..þet god heþ yvryd..uram þe þreldome of þe dyeule. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 4 b, From the thraldome of the princes of the world to the fredome of glory & kyngdome of god.
2. Exemption from arbitrary, despotic, or autocratic control; independence; civil liberty.
1375Barbour Bruce i. 225 Fredome all solace to man giffis. He levys at ese that frely levys! 1606Holland Sueton. 42 They died for the Libertie and Free-dome of their Cittie. 1725Swift Drapier's Lett. v. Wks. 1761 III. 97 Freedom consists in a people's being governed by laws made with their own consent. 1780Cowper Table Talk 284 They, that fight for freedom, undertake The noblest cause mankind can have at stake. 1817Byron Beppo xlvii, I like the freedom of the press and quill. 1850Tennyson In Mem. cix, A love of freedom rarely felt, Of freedom in her regal seat Of England.
†3. The quality of being free or noble; nobility, generosity, liberality. Obs.
c1320Cast. Love 145 He ȝaf Adam..Feirlek, and freodam, and muche miht. c1386Chaucer Monk's T. 564 He was of knyghthod and of fredam flour. c1430Pilgr. Lyf Manhode i. lxxx. (1869) 47 Nay, but me shulde thinke suich a yifte ful of gret fredom..and of gret curteysye. 1500–20Dunbar Poems xxi. 28 On fredome is laid foirfaltour. c1530Calisto & Melib. C i a, With grace indewid in fredome as alexandre.
4. a. The state of being able to act without hindrance or restraint, liberty of action.
c1400Mandeville xvii. (1839) 193 Fissches, that han fredom to enviroun alle the Costes of the See, at here owne list, comen of hire owne wille to profren hem to the dethe. 1588Shakes. Tit. A. i. i. 17 And Romanes, fight for Freedome in your Choice. 1633Bp. Hall Hard Texts 513 Alexander of Macedon..shall rule powerfully and with great freedom and absoluteness. 1718Freethinker No. 1 ⁋5 Freedom of Thought is like Freedom in Actions. 1878Jevons Prim. Pol. Econ. 67 It is absolutely necessary to maintain..the freedom of other men to labour if they like. 1885L'pool Daily Post 7 July 4/4 The Government's freedom of action was limited by the fact that they came into negotiations partly concluded.
b. four freedoms: those propounded by Franklin D. Roosevelt (see quot. 1941).
1941F. D. Roosevelt in N.Y. Times 7 Jan. 4/7 In the future days..we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. The first is freedom of speech and expression... The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way... The third is freedom from want... The fourth is freedom from fear. 1944H. G. Wells '42 to '44 69 Our government's good faith in promising mankind a regenerated world, the ‘four freedoms’ and so forth after the war. 1950A. Huxley Themes & Variations 246 To talk about the Rights of Man and the Four Freedoms in connection..with India is merely a cruel joke. 1964R. Church Voyage Home iii. 35 The assumption of the Government..was that..grateful civilians would see to it that the ex-soldiers be eased back with sympathy into an economic way of life supported on the newly-painted pillars of the four freedoms.
5. The quality of being free from the control of fate or necessity; the power of self-determination attributed to the will.
c888K. ælfred Boeth. xli. §2 Þu seᵹist þæt God sylle ællcum frydom [MS. Cott. freodom] swa god to donne swa yfel. 1340Ayenb. 86 Uri-wyl huer-by he may chyese and do uryliche oþer þet guod oþer þet kuead. Þerne uridom he halt of god. 1690Locke Hum. Und. ii. xxi. §27. 123 In this then consists Freedom, (viz.) in our being able to act, or not to act, according as we shall choose, or will. 1855Bain Emotions xi. (1859) 544 The doctrine of Freedom was first elaborated into a metaphysical scheme, implying its opposite Necessity, by St. Augustin against Pelagius. 1884tr. Lotze's Metaph. 420 The freedom which is said to characterise mental life, and is distinguished from the necessity of nature.
†6. Readiness or willingness to act. Obs.
a1626Bacon New Atl. (1627) 18 We found such humanity, and such a freedome and desire to take strangers as it were into their bosom. 1697W. Dampier Voy. (1729) I. 502, I had been accustomed to hardships and hazards, therefore I did with much freedom undertake it.
7. a. Frankness, openness, familiarity (in intercourse or conversation); outspokenness.
1699Lister Journ. Paris 67, I had not that freedom of Conversation as I could have wisht with both of them. 1705Addison Italy 86 They are generally too distrustful of one another for the Freedoms that are us'd in such kind of Conversations. 1792Burke Corr. 1844 IV. 32, I talked a great deal to him with the freedom I have long used to him on this and on other subjects. 1887F. Darwin Life & Lett. C. Darwin I. 18 And laughed and joked with everyone..with the utmost freedom.
b. The overstepping of due or customary bounds in speech or behaviour; undue familiarity. Phr. to take the freedom (to do something).
1618Fletcher Loyal Subj. ii. i, Your eye..Is fix'd upon this captain for his freedom; And happily you find his tongue too forward. 1648Boyle Seraph. Love (1660) 9 This Love, I have taken the freedom to style ‘Seraphic Love’. 1681Otway Soldier's Fort. ii. i, Let her alone to make the best use of those innocent Freedoms I allow her. 1712Steele Spect. No. 402 ⁋1 The young Women who run into greater Freedoms with the Men. 1854J. S. C. Abbott Napoleon (1855) I. xvi. 287 When the officers do not eat or drink, or take too many freedoms with the seamen.
8. Of action, activity, etc.: Ease, facility, absence of encumbrance.
1613Shakes. Hen. VIII, v. i. 103 You cannot with such freedome purge your selfe. 1705De Foe in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 322, I humbly thank your Lordship for the freedom of access you were pleas'd to give my messenger. 1860Tyndall Glac. ii. iii. 243 The sun's rays penetrate our atmosphere with freedom.
9. Boldness or vigour of conception or execution.
1643Howell Lett. I. vi. lvi. (1655) 303, I alwaies lov'd you for the freedom of your genius. 1782Cowper Table-talk 700 Nature..But seldom..Vouchsafes to man a poet's just pretence. Fervency, freedom, fluency of thought [etc.]. 1842Rogers Introd. Burke's Wks. (1842) I. 11 For by knowing..what was to be done in every figure they designed, they naturally attained a freedom and spirit of outline.
10. a. Physics. Capability of motion. degree of freedom: an independent mode in which a body may be displaced.
1867Thomson & Tait Treat. Nat. Philos. I. i. 130 A free point has three degrees of freedom, inasmuch as the most general displacement which it can take is resolvable into three, parallel respectively to any three directions, and independent of each other... If the point be constrained to remain always on a given surface, one degree of constraint is introduced, or there are left but two degrees of freedom. 1958Van Nostrand's Sci. Encycl. (ed. 3) 610/2 When heat energy is imparted to a pure diatomic gas, 1/5 of it goes into each degree of molecular freedom. Three of these degrees of freedom are concerned with motions of translation, so that 3/5 of the energy takes this form.
b. Physical Chem. An independent capability of a system to vary without altering the number of phases and components present.
1899[see invariant a. b]. 1904A. Findlay Phase Rule ii. 15 We shall therefore define the number of degrees of freedom of a system as the number of the variable factors, temperature, pressure, and concentration of the components, which must be arbitrarily fixed in order that the condition of the system may be perfectly defined. 1948Glasstone Physical Chem. (ed. 2) vi. 475 A system consisting of one phase only, e.g., solid, liquid or gaseous, of water has two degrees of freedom,..for..it is necessary to specify both temperature and pressure to define completely the state of the system. 1966Ter Haar & Wergeland Elem. Thermodynam. vi. 82 Gibbs' phase rule... The number of phases plus the number of degrees of freedom exceeds the number of components by 2.
c. Statistics. A property of a statistical distribution or of a statistic, in number equal either to the number of values that can be arbitrarily and independently assigned to the distribution, or to the number of independent and unrestricted quantities contributing to the statistic.
1922R. A. Fisher in Jrnl. R. Statistical Soc. LXXXV. 88 We shall show that Elderton's Tables of Goodness of Fit..may still be applied, but that the value of n′ with which the table should be entered is not now equal to the number of cells, but to one more than the number of degrees of freedom in the distribution. 1950Yule & Kendall Introd. Theory Statistics (ed. 14) xxi. 485 In the quantity σ(x - m)2 there are n independent contributions of the type (x - m)2, and hence we may say that n is the number of degrees of freedom of that estimate; but in the quantity σ(x - x )2 we have used the data to estimate x , and hence the number of degrees of freedom is lowered by unity, i.e. equals n - 1. 1961H. Jeffreys Theory of Probability (ed. 3) iii. 145 The estimate of any unknown from the observations directly relating to it may be of very doubtful accuracy on account of the small number of degrees of freedom. 1969Kendall & Stuart Adv. Theory of Statistics (ed. 3) I. xvi. 375 It is thus natural to speak of the number of degrees of freedom, ν, of a function such as χ2, meaning thereby that it is distributed as the sum of squares of ν independent standardized normal variates.
11. The state of not being affected by (a defect, disadvantage, etc.); exemption from.
1606Shakes. Ant. & Cl. i. iii. 57 Though age from folly could not giue me freedom It does from childishnesse. 1613Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 62 Promising to the doers long life, health..freedome from losses, and the like. 1756Burke Subl. & B. i. xiii, The contemplation of our own freedom from the evils which we see represented. 1839Miss Mitford in L'Estrange Life (1870) III. vii. 99 There is a freedom from cant about the authoress, which..I could not have anticipated.
12. a. Exemption from a specific burden, charge, or service; an immunity, privilege: = franchise n. 2 b.
c1175Lamb. Hom. 41 We eow wulleð seggen of þa fredome þe limpeð to þan deie þe is iclepeð su sunedei. c1205Lay. 22222 He sette grið he sette frið and alle freodomes. 1386[see franchise n. 2 b]. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) III. 61 He graunted hem fredom [immunitatem] þat dede þat deede. 1534Whittinton Tullyes Offices i. (1540) 24 Many thynges be commune to cytezyns amonge them selfe, as..fredomes, iudgementes, voyces in elections. 1675Essex Papers (Camden) I. 315 That all y⊇ auntient freemen of y⊇ respective Corporacions should enjoy their former freedoms and Priviledges. 1711T. Madox Hist. & Antiq. Excheq. 524 K. John..granted to Robert de Lisieux..Quittance or Freedom from Tallage. 1719W. Wood Surv. Trade 9 All Foreigners might freely come and reside in any Part of this Kingdom..with the like Privileges and Freedoms as our selves. 1839Keightley Hist. Eng. I. 332 Freedom from arrest, a privilege at that time necessary for the cause of liberty.
b. A privilege possessed by a city, a corporation, etc. Cf. franchise n. 2 a.
1596Shakes. Merch. V. iv. i. 35 If you denie it, let the danger light Vpon your Charter, and your Cities freedome. 1612Drayton Poly-olb. xi. 180 The great Freedoms then those kings to these [Universities] did giue. 1673Temple Observ. United Prov. Wks. 1731 I. 9 Cities and Towns; of which the Old had their ancient Freedoms and Jurisdictions confirmed, or others annexed.
†c. A city or corporation possessing such immunity. Also, the district over which the immunity extends; the ‘liberties’. Cf. franchise n. 5. Obs.
1579Twyne Phisicke agst. Fort. ii. Ep. Ded. 160 b, The actes and lawes of certeine Municipies or freedomes. 1766Entick London IV. 306 Passing over Tower-hill, they come again into the freedom.
13. The right of participating in the privileges attached to:
a. membership of a company or trade;
b. citizenship of a town or city; often conferred honoris causa upon eminent persons. Also, the document or diploma conferring such freedom.
a.c1744Parl. Bill in Hanway Trav. (1762) I. v. lxxi. 32 All persons..should be admitted into the freedom of the said company, upon paying a fine of fifty pounds. 1746H. Walpole Let. Mann 1 Aug., It was lately proposed in the city to present him [the Duke of Hamilton] with the freedom of some company.
b.1579,1606[see franchise n. 4]. 1748Smollett Rod. Rand. (1812) I. 500 The magistrates intended to compliment us with the freedom of their town. 1772Wesley Jrnl. 28 Apr., They presented me with the freedom of the city. 1864H. Ainsworth John Law vi. iii, The freedom of his native city of Edinburgh was transmitted to him in a valuable gold box. 1885Act 48 & 49 Vict. c. 29 An Act to enable Municipal Corporations to confer the Honorary Freedom of Boroughs upon persons of distinction.
c. The liberty or right to practise a trade; also the ‘fine’ paid for this: see freedom-fine.
1712Arbuthnot John Bull i. iv, Lewis Baboon had taken up the trade of clothier and draper, without serving his time or purchasing his freedom. 1759Goldsm. Bee No. 5 ⁋20 Exclusive of the masters, there are numberless faulty expenses among the workmen,—clubs, garnishes, freedoms, and such like impositions.
d. Freedom of the Rule (Sc.), liberty granted to a Scotch advocate to plead at the English bar.
1820Scott Ivanhoe Introd., Ivanhoe..may be said to have procured for its Author the freedom of the rules..since he has ever since been permitted to exercise his powers of fictitious composition in England as well as Scotland.
e. transf. Unrestricted use of.
1652Needham tr. Selden's Mare Cl. 155 Hee would not permit Merchants and Sea-men to enjoy a freedom of that Sea..but at an extraordinarie rate. 1697W. Dampier Voy. I. xix. 528 They having the freedom of our Ship, to go to and fro between Decks. 1862Burton Bk. Hunter (1863) 48 Having conferred on you the freedom of the library, he will not concern himself by observing how you use it.
14. Sc. A piece of common land allotted to a free-man.
1805Forsyth Beauties Scotl. II. 473 Each of these free⁓men possesses what is called a lot or freedom, containing about four acres of arable land. 1861Howie Hist. Acc. Ayr v. 46 The Newton people divided them [the lands] into 48 portions. These were denominated freedoms.
15. attrib. and Comb., as freedom-loving adj.; freedom box (see quot. 1960); freedom fighter, one who takes part in a resistance movement against the established political system of a country; also transf.; freedom-fine, a payment made on being admitted to the freedom of a city, guild, or corporation; freedom ride U.S., an organized ride (in buses, etc.) by people demonstrating against racial segregation; so freedom rider, one who takes part in such a demonstration of racial protest; similarly freedom march, freedom walk.
1911C. J. Jackson Illustr. Hist. Eng. Plate II. xxix. 913 Lord Carbery owns an interesting silver-gilt freedom-box..which was presented by the borough of Bandon-Bridge to George, the third Baron Carbery in 1760. 1960H. Hayward Antique Coll. 123/2 Freedom box, small circular or oblong box, silver-gilt, when not gold, presented with a script conferring the freedom of a town. Particularly popular in Ireland from the late 18th to the early 19th cent.
1942J. Lehmann 40 Poems 32 Their freedom-fighters staining red the snow. 1958Listener 13 Nov. 786/1 The Hungarian ‘freedom fighters’. 1962Listener 20 Dec. 1042/2 The Information Minister [in Jakarta] had urged the press to support the freedom fighters in northern Borneo. 1964Ann. Reg. 1963 113 Mr. Obote had played a prominent part in the Addis Ababa conference..offering training grounds for ‘freedom fighters’ against South Africa. 1969Daily Nation (Nairobi) 31 Oct. 16/1 Freedom fighters ring Portuguese territories and Rhodesia with the support of African governments, if not always full acknowledgement. 1969M. Pugh Last Place Left vii. 45 She was a freedom fighter in the sex war.
1882Cassell, Freedom-fine.
1841H. S. Foote Texas & Texans I. 102 The descendants of..freedom-loving ancestors in Texas nobly resolved to imperil their lives. 1884M. Hickson Irel. in 17th Cent. I. Introd. 15 The Ulster of to-day..filled with the..freedom-loving men of the mixed race. 1942W. S. Churchill End of Beginning (1943) 122 We shall..build a sure peace for all freedom-loving peoples. 1965Listener 20 May 755/2 The Alabama freedom march.
1961N.Y. Times 20 Aug. 2E/6 Freedom Rides..are expected to continue until bus-terminal segregation ends.
1961Guardian 25 May 1/3 Anti-segregation ‘freedom riders’ arrived here by bus from Montgomery, Alabama. 1961Economist 27 May 890/1 The flow of ‘Freedom Riders’—mostly young Negroes, with a few white sympathizers, who are determined to challenge illegal discrimination in the defiant heart of the old South. 1967Listener 17 Aug. 211/2 The old days when Freedom Riders were widely applauded..have gone.
1967Word Study Dec. 7/2 There were..‘freedom walks’ across Southern states in 1962 and 1963.
Hence † ˈfreedom v. trans., to set free. Also ˈfreedomless a., without freedom; † ˈfreedomship, investiture with a freedom.
1548Gest Pr. Masse 107 Christe mourderd broken, and offered was the meane wherwyth we be fredomed frome y⊇ thraldome of..y⊇ devyll. 1583Golding Calvin on Deut. cxxxvi. 838 Baptisme..was ministred with such reuerence, that..the Congregation was assembled together, as if one were to receiue an holy freedomship. 1821Byron Irish Avatar iii, Famine which dwelt on her freedomless crags. |