Free
The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary · Walter A. Shumaker and George Foster Longsdorf; ed. James C. Cahill · 1922
The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary
Not bound to servitude; at liberty to act as one pleases. This word is put in opposition to slave. Const. U. S. art.
1, § 2.
Used in distinction from being bound as an apprentice. The Declaration of Independence asserts that all men are born free; and in this sense the term is usually supposed to mean all mankind, though this seems to be doubted in 19 How. (U. S.) 393. Certain; as, free services. These were also more honorable. Confined to the person possessing, instead of being held in common; as, free fishery.