emancipate

[ih-man-suh-peyt]

verb (used with object)

emancipated, emancipating 

1. to free from restraint, influence, or the like.

2. to free (a person) from bondage or slavery.

3. Roman and Civil Law.,  to terminate paternal control over.

emancipate

/ -trɪ, ɪˈmænsɪpətərɪ, ɪˈmænsɪˌpeɪt /

verb

1. to free from restriction or restraint, esp social or legal restraint

2. (often passive) to free from the inhibitions imposed by conventional morality

3. to liberate (a slave) from bondage

Other Word Forms

• emancipative adjective
• emancipator noun
• nonemancipative adjective
• unemancipative adjective
• emancipated adjective
• emancipatory adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of emancipate¹

First recorded in 1615–25; from Latin ēmancipātus (past participle of ēmancipāre ) “freed from control,” equivalent to ē- “out of, from” ( e- ¹ ) + man(us) “hand” + -cip- (combining form of capere “to seize”) + -ātus past participle suffix ( -ate ¹ )

Word History and Origins

Origin of emancipate¹

C17: from Latin ēmancipāre to give independence (to a son), from mancipāre to transfer property, from manceps a purchaser; see _manciple

Synonym Study

See release.

Example Sentences

Abraham practically brings the house down with “Independently Owned,” an anthem to her character’s emancipated spirit.

From Los Angeles Times

There is a lot of doublespeak, that as women, we have never been as emancipated and free to do what we want as we are today.

From Salon

At 15, Skye sought to be legally emancipated because other child actors had done the same as a means of averting the legal requirements of minors on set.

From Los Angeles Times

“She’s a Black woman who found ways to liberate and emancipate herself in this society, in this world, on her own terms, and that’s what I take away from her legacy,” said Christovale.

From Los Angeles Times

Abraham Lincoln fibbed as well, telling newspaper readers in 1862 that he was not considering emancipating the Confederacy’s enslaved people when he’d already decided to do so.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• liberate 
• loosen