enfranchise
/ɛnˈfɹænt͡ʃaɪz/ verb
Forms enfranchises enfranchising enfranchised
- verb To grant the privilege of voting to a person or group of people.
- verb To grant municipal or parliamentary rights to an entity such as a city or constituency.
- verb To grant freedom from slavery, duty or servitude.
- verb (property law, England and Wales, historical) to convert a copyhold estate into a freehold estate
Synonyms
Antonyms
Etymology
From Old French enfranchir (“to set free, enfranchise”), from en- (“in”) + franchir (“to set free”), equivalent to en- + franchise.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To set free; to liberate from slavery, prison, or any binding power. Bacon.
- verb To endow with a franchise; to incorporate into a body politic and thus to invest with civil and political privileges; to admit to the privileges of a freeman.
Etymology [Pref. en- + franchise: cf. F. enfranchir.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “enfranchise”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details