"freeway"

     [This is a fast-access FAQ excerpt.]
The "free" in "freeway" never referred to lack of a speed limit;
nor did it originally refer to a lack of tollbooths, although W3's
second definition is "a toll-free highway".  The word is attested
since 1930, and in the earliest citations it is defined as a
thoroughfare to which the abutting owners have no right of direct
access.