freeter n. a person who takes a series of temporary jobs; a job-hopper, temp worker, or freelancer. Also freeta. Etymological Note: free + Ger. arbeit ‘work’ (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
A caller wonders if she’s being hypersensitive about the way her boss addresses her in emails. Can the use of an employee’s first name ever reflect a power differential? And: a community choir director wants a term for “the act of...
Language is always evolving, and that’s also true for American Sign Language. A century ago, the sign for “telephone” was one fist below your mouth and the other at your ear, as if you’re holding an old-fashioned candlestick...
Someone has probably noted that Japanese “arubaito” is very likely a phonetic rendering of German “Arbeiter”—so that both suggested derivations are right.