Etymology

rent-free

Today it means: Without a rent payment. Full definition →

Old English frēo ← Proto-West Germanic *friu ← Proto-Germanic *frijwaz
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

rent-free · adjective, adverb1

  1. Englishrent
  2. Proto-Indo-European*preyH-
  3. Proto-Indo-European*priHós
  4. Proto-Germanic*frijwaz
  5. Proto-West Germanic*friu
  6. Old Englishfrēo
  7. English todayrent-free

From rent + -free.

rent-free · interjection2

Ellipsis of live rent-free in someone's head.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.