A free form which is not a phrase is a 'word'. A word, then, is a free formwhich does not consist entirely of (two or more) lessere free forms; in brief, a word is ' a minimum free form'.
- Bloomfield (1935), Pag. 178

Since only free forms can be isolated in actual speech, the word, as the minimum of free form, plays a very important part in our attitude toward language. For the purposes of ordinary life, the word is the smallest unit of speech.
- Bloomfield (1935), Pag. 178

Apparently, 'words' are the linguistic units that are first symbolized in writing.
- Bloomfield (1935), Pag. 285