freelance
Defined: independent, to be self-employed (especially in the sense of a writer or artist who provides
services without a long-term contract)
Example: Parker worked as a pilot until his health failed him; then he decided to become a freelance
writer.
A medieval soldier who was free of any continuing loyalties to his own country was known as a "free companion." Such a mercenary soldier could be, and often was, hired by another country to fight in a war in which they were involved. Sir Walter Scott, in his 1820 novel Ivanhoe, coined a more descriptive term for such a soldier — "free lance."
By the end of the 1800s, the word began being spelled as one word and it also started being used to refer to a writer. And at the turn of the 20th century, it began showing up as a verb as well — to freelance.
A Google search on November 13, 2007, shows that the word's spelling is now firmly in place:
free lance — 2,520,000 hits
freelance — 60,000,000 hits