franchise

[ fran-chahyz ]

noun

1. a privilege of a public nature conferred on an individual, group, or company by a government:

   a franchise to operate a bus system.

2. the right or license granted by a company to an individual or group to market its products or services in a specific territory.
3. a store, restaurant, or other business operating under such a license.
4. the territory over which such a license extends.
5. the right to vote:

   to guarantee the franchise of every citizen.

6. a privilege arising from the grant of a sovereign or government, or from prescription, which presupposes a grant.
7. Sports.
   1. the right to own or operate a professional sports team as a member of a league.
   2. a professional sports team.
   3. a player of great talent or popular appeal, considered vitally important to a team's success or future.
8. a set of creative works and related merchandise that share a fictional world, as films, television shows, books, or games:

   the Star Wars franchise;

   the Pokémon franchise.

9. a legal immunity or exemption from a particular burden, exaction, or the like.
10. Obsolete. freedom, especially from imprisonment, servitude, or moral restraint.

verb (used with object)

, fran·chised, fran·chis·ing.

1. to grant (an individual, company, etc.) a franchise:

   The corporation has just franchised our local dealer.

2. enfranchise none.

franchise

/ ˈfræntʃɪzmənt; ˈfræntʃaɪz /

noun

1. the franchise
   the franchise the right to vote, esp for representatives in a legislative body; suffrage
2. any exemption, privilege, or right granted to an individual or group by a public authority, such as the right to use public property for a business
3. commerce authorization granted by a manufacturing enterprise to a distributor to market the manufacturer's products
4. the full rights of citizenship
5. films a film that is or has the potential to be part of a series and lends itself to merchandising
6. (in marine insurance) a sum or percentage stated in a policy, below which the insurer disclaims all liability

verb

1. tr commerce to grant (a person, firm, etc) a franchise
2. See enfranchise
   an obsolete word for enfranchise

franchise

¹

1. In business, a relationship between a manufacturer and a retailer in which the manufacturer provides the product, sales techniques, and other kinds of managerial assistance, and the retailer promises to market the manufacturer's product rather than that of competitors. For example, most automobile dealerships are franchises. The vast majority of fast food chains are also run on the franchise principle, with the retailer paying to use the brand name.

franchise

²

1. In politics, the right to vote. The Constitution left the determination of the qualifications of voters to the states. In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, states usually restricted the franchise to white men who owned specified amounts of property. Gradually, poll taxes were substituted for property requirements. Before the Civil War , the voting rights of blacks were severely restricted, but the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution, declared ratified in 1870, prohibited states from abridging the right to vote on the basis of race. Nevertheless, southern states used a variety of legal ploys to restrict black voting until passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 . Women were not guaranteed the right to vote in federal elections until ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920. In 1971 the Twenty-sixth Amendment lowered the voting age from twenty-one to eighteen. ( See suffrage and suffragette .)

Notes

Losing the right to vote, called disfranchisement , is most commonly caused by failing to reregister, a procedure that is required every time a person changes residence.

Derived Forms

• ˈfranchiser, noun
• ˈfranchiˌsee, noun
• franchisement, noun

Other Words From

• franchis·a·ble adjective
• franchis·a·bili·ty noun
• fran·chise·ment [fran, -chahyz-m, uh, nt, -chiz-], noun
• over·franchised adjective
• sub·franchise noun verb (used with object) subfranchised subfranchising
• un·franchised adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of franchise¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Old French, derivative of franc “free”; frank ¹none

Word History and Origins

Origin of franchise¹

C13: from Old French, from franchir to set free, from franc free; see frank

Example Sentences

If the only impression you have of Deadpool is Ryan Reynolds mouthing off in the movie franchise, do yourself a favor and pick up this 2012 series by Croatian comic genius Dalibor Talajic.

From Ozy

City spokespeople also couldn’t tell reporter MacKenzie Elmer what’s next for the franchise fee agreement immediately after the special Council meeting.

From Voice of San Diego

The Council won’t get to see the final franchise agreement before it goes out to market anyway, Council President Georgette Gómez said during the meeting.

From Voice of San Diego

The franchise agreement is considered San Diego’s most powerful leverage point against investor-owned utilities, and there’s really no standard for what the city can or can’t request.

From Voice of San Diego

“We’re definitely focused on creating franchises,” co-CEO Reed Hastings said on a call with investors last week.

From Quartz

Then, under the bold headline “Rebooting Spider-Man,” Robinov describes a broad vision for the future of the franchise.

From The Daily Beast

Another angle Robinov suggests as a possibility for Peter Parker/Spider-Man is a franchise reboot tackling Spidey as… an adult.

From The Daily Beast

The NFL cares about only one thing: protecting the 32 franchise owners.

From The Daily Beast

More than the books, and they are greatly so, this is an action franchise.

From The Daily Beast

The Hunger Games franchise is already a deeply political saga, chronicling a growing rebellion against a tyrannical regime.

From The Daily Beast

I am prepared to respect the franchise, to give substantially, although not nominally, equality.

From Project Gutenberg

Likewise, he owned the stage line and franchise, controlling the only right of way by which a railroad could reach up the valley.

From Project Gutenberg

Mr. O'Connell moved that it should be an instruction to the committee to restore the franchise to these freeholders.

From Project Gutenberg

In regard to the qualification of electors, he said it had been determined not to adhere to the parliamentary franchise.

From Project Gutenberg

On the 4th of July, however, the house went into committee upon clause twenty, which referred to the value of the franchise.

From Project Gutenberg