freelance vs mercenary

freelance

noun
  • A medieval mercenary. 

  • Someone who sells their services to clients without a long-term employment contract. 

verb
  • To produce or sell services as a freelance. 

  • To work as a freelance. 

adj
  • Of, or relating to a freelance; without employment contract. 

mercenary

noun
  • A person employed to fight in an armed conflict who is not a member of the state or military group for which they are fighting and whose primary motivation is private gain. 

  • One hired to engage in a figurative battle, as a corporate takeover, a lawsuit, or a political campaign. 

adj
  • Motivated by private gain. 

How often have the words freelance and mercenary occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )