The etymology would be appreciated. Does it have to do with the reflexive свой (svoj) ? Maybe does it mean "having at oneself's disposal " ? (sorry for the English mistakes. In French we would say "qui dispose de sa (propre) personne") --Fsojic (talk) 21:28, 29 September 2012 (UTC)
- From the noun свобода, which is from Common Slavonic *sveboda. It has a variant in Old Russian слобода (same meaning). Common Slavonic *sveboda is related to OCS свобьство, собьство, where *svobь is from *svojь (see свой, свойство). Cognate with German Schwaben, Suebi. —Stephen (Talk) 21:46, 29 September 2012 (UTC)
- Ok, thank you, but what is the link with свой (svoj) ? A свободный man is someone who "owns himself, his own body", this is it ? --Fsojic (talk) 13:36, 30 September 2012 (UTC)