enfranchise

American  

[en-fran-chahyz] / ɛnˈfræn tʃaɪz /

verb (used with object)

enfranchises, present (3rd person singular) enfranchised, past participle, past enfranchising present participle

1. to admit to citizenship, especially to the right of voting.

   By about 1860, most white men without property had been enfranchised.

2. to give (a person or group) the rights or privileges of full participation in society or in any community or organization, especially the opportunity to influence policy or make their voice heard.

   The online forum enfranchises nurses, giving them a sense of belonging both to the profession and to the organization they work for.

3. to set free; liberate, as from slavery or from some disabling constraint.

   Some ideologies enfranchise innovative creativity, while others suppress it.

4. to endow (a city, constituency, etc.) with municipal or parliamentary rights.

5. to grant a franchise to.

   The Chicago White Sox were enfranchised in Iowa in 1894, when the team was known as the Sioux City Cornhuskers.

6. British. to give the tenant of (a leasehold) the right to purchase freehold of the property or to extend the lease, often up to the end of life.

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enfranchise British  

/ ɪnˈfræntʃaɪz /

verb

1. to grant the power of voting to, esp as a right of citizenship

2. to liberate, as from servitude

3. (in England) to invest (a town, city, etc) with the right to be represented in Parliament

4. English law to convert (leasehold) to freehold

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• unenfranchised
  adjective
• enfranchisement
  noun
• enfranchiser
  noun

Conjugated Forms

Present

• have enfranchised
  perfect
• has enfranchised
  perfect 3rd person singular
• am enfranchising
  progressive 1st person singular
• are enfranchising
  progressive
• has been enfranchising
  perfect progressive 3rd person singular
• enfranchising
  participle
• have been enfranchising
  perfect progressive
• is enfranchising
  progressive 3rd person singular
• enfranchises
  singular 3rd person

Past

• had enfranchised
  perfect
• was enfranchising
  progressive singular
• were enfranchising
  progressive plural
• had been enfranchising
  perfect progressive
• enfranchised
  participle
• enfranchised
  simple

Future

• will enfranchise
  simple
• will have enfranchised
  perfect
• will have been enfranchising
  perfect progressive
• will be enfranchising
  progressive

Etymology

Origin of enfranchise

First recorded in 1505–15; from Middle French, Old French enfranchiss- (long stem of enfranchir “to free”), equivalent to en- en- ¹ + franch- “free” ( see frank ¹) + iss- -ish ²

Explanation

The verb enfranchise is used when a group of people are given voting rights or freedoms they didn't have before. Many people under the age of 18 would like lawmakers to enfranchise their peer group so they can vote. Enfranchise traces back to the Old French word enfranchiss, a combination of en-, meaning "make, put in," and enfranchir, meaning "to set or make free." In the 1680s, enfranchise came to mean "to admit to membership in a state," something that usually came with the right to vote. You may know the word disenfranchised, an adjective that describes people who lack rights or liberties. To enfranchise is to give or restore rights to the disenfranchised.

Example Sentences

Enfranchise them, and they become self-respecting and country-loving citizens.

From Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, 1995, Memorial Issue by Various

Enfranchise him, give him his own way and you make a new man of him; persecute him and he is himself again.

From Children of the Ghetto A Study of a Peculiar People by Zangwill, Israel

Enfranchise them equally, and then begin afresh, if you please, to legislate for the whole human race.

From Women and the Alphabet A Series of Essays by Higginson, Thomas Wentworth

Giving further consideration to the situation among the Indians, the legislature of Massachusetts passed in 1869 what is known as An Act to Enfranchise the Indians of the Commonwealth.

From The Journal of Negro History, Volume 5, 1920 by Various

And so dissatisfaction, like to yeast, Deep in the thoughtless mob did swell to burst Because our party purposed to at once Enfranchise this unhappy down-trod race.

From 'A Comedy of Errors' in Seven Acts by Spokeshave (AKA Old Fogy)