enfranchise

[ en-fran-chahyz ]

/ ɛnˈfræn tʃaɪz /

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See synonyms for: enfranchise / enfranchisement on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object), en·fran·chised, en·fran·chis·ing.

to grant a franchise to; admit to citizenship, especially to the right of voting.

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

to set free; liberate, as from slavery.

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Also franchise.

Origin of enfranchise

1505–15; <Middle French, Old French enfranchiss- (long stem of enfranchir to free), equivalent to en-en-¹ + franch- free (see frank¹) + iss--ish²

OTHER WORDS FROM enfranchise

en·fran·chise·ment

[en-fran-chahyz-muhnt, -chiz-], /ɛnˈfræn tʃaɪz mənt, -tʃɪz-/, nounen·fran·chis·er, nounun·en·fran·chised, adjective

Words nearby enfranchise

enflurane, enfold, enforce, enforcement, enforcer, enfranchise, enfuvirtide, eng, Engadine, engage, engaged

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use enfranchise in a sentence

Now it’s about voting and how important it is for people to be enfranchised.
Martin Luther King Jr.’s family marches in D.C. for Senate action on voting rights bill|Katherine Shaver|January 17, 2022|Washington Post
We want to make sure that what we’re doing here is really leading the way for others to also think about how they can enfranchise immigrants in their own cities.
New York's Move Allowing Non-Citizens to Vote Could Lead Other Cities to Follow|Sanya Mansoor|December 10, 2021|Time
We also made it so voters must request an absentee ballot no less than 11 days before a primary or election to help enfranchise voters because the late requesters, they weren’t getting their ballots on time.
Georgia's Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger Defends Controversial Election Law|Sanya Mansoor|April 26, 2021|Time
"To thank men like Cowan, who did not desire to enfranchise woman any more than the negro, was to stultify ourselves," he said.
The College, the Market, and the Court|Caroline H. Dall

From here on there was only one course to follow, to press again for a Sixteenth Amendment to enfranchise women.
Susan B. Anthony|Alma Lutz
An alien immigrant to our shores may desire to attain the full status of citizenship; but desire alone will never enfranchise him.
The Vitality of Mormonism--Brief Essays|James E. Talmage
North Dakota's constitution provided that the legislature might in the future enfranchise women.
Susan B. Anthony|Alma Lutz
For her it was not so much a question of enlightening the angels; the important thing was to enfranchise them.
The Revolt of the Angels|Anatole France

British Dictionary definitions for enfranchise

enfranchise

/ (ɪnˈfræntʃaɪz) /

verb (tr)

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

to liberate, as from servitude

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

English law to convert (leasehold) to freehold

Derived forms of enfranchise

enfranchisement, nounenfranchiser, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

enfranchise

Origin of enfranchise

OTHER WORDS FROM enfranchise

Words nearby enfranchise

Words related to enfranchise

How to use enfranchise in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for enfranchise

Derived forms of enfranchise