The story
- Proto-Indo-European*preyH-
- Proto-Indo-European*priHós
- Proto-Germanic*frijwaz
- Proto-West Germanic*friu
- Old Englishfrēo
- Middle Englishfre
- Englishfree
- Latinlancea
- Old Frenchlance
- Middle Englishlaunce
- Englishlance
- Englishfreelance
- English todayfreelancer
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.