franchise

American  

[fran-chahyz] / ˈfræn tʃaɪz /

noun

• franchises
  plural

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.

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verb (used with object)

• franchises,
  present (3rd person singular)
• franchised,
  past participle,  past
• franchising
  present participle

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

   The corporation has just franchised our local dealer.

2. enfranchise.

franchise British  

/ ˈfræntʃaɪz /

noun

1. 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

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verb

1. (tr) commerce to grant (a person, firm, etc) a franchise

2. an obsolete word for enfranchise

franchise ¹ Cultural  

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.

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franchise ² Cultural  

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.)

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Discover More

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.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• franchisability
  noun
• franchisee
  noun
• franchisement
  noun
• franchiser
  noun
• subfranchise
  noun
• franchisable
  adjective
• overfranchised
  adjective
• unfranchised
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• franchises
  plural

Participles

• franchising
  present
• franchised
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• franchise
  simple
• franchises
  simple
• have franchised
  perfect
• has franchised
  perfect
• am franchising
  progressive
• are franchising
  progressive
• is franchising
  progressive
• have been franchising
  perfect progressive
• has been franchising
  perfect progressive

Past

• franchised
  simple
• had franchised
  perfect
• was franchising
  progressive
• were franchising
  progressive
• had been franchising
  perfect progressive

Future

• will franchise
  simple
• will have franchised
  perfect
• will be franchising
  progressive
• will have been franchising
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of franchise

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Old French, derivative of franc “free”; see frank ¹

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Explanation

A franchise is a right granted by a government or corporation to an individual or group of individuals. One of the most important government-issued rights — so important it's known simply as "the franchise" — is the right to vote. In its more commercial meaning, the fast-food chain McDonalds is a franchise. So are Burger King and Kentucky Fried Chicken and the New York Yankees. In other words, businesses from which you can buy a license in order to sell or use their products. More recently, the term has come to have an intellectual meaning as well, as in a particular series of books or films, such as the Harry Potter franchise.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

franchise franchises franchised franchising

Hugh Jackman, who starred alongside him in the franchise, called him a "tremendous friend and man", saying: "We lost one of the greats of stage and screen today."

From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026

Patrick Stewart, the British actor known for ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ and the ‘X-Men’ franchise, has died at age 86.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2026

From 2020 to 2023, Stewart was tempted back to the "Star Trek" franchise, starring in the "Star Trek: Picard" television series.

From Barron's ● Oct. 29, 2026

Before they acquired Christian Yelich, the Brewers were major-league afterthoughts, a moribund franchise with limited resources and little reason to dream about October glory.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026

It’s a franchise: there are Soul Scrolls in every city center, in every suburb, or so they say.

From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood

His iconic voice and facial expressions saw him star in both the Star Trek and X-Men franchises, helping to spawn a generation of global sci-fi fans.

From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026

Patrick Stewart, the British Shakespearean actor who became a Hollywood megastar through roles in the "Star Trek" and "X-Men" franchises, has died at the age of 86, an official statement said Thursday.

From Barron's ● Oct. 29, 2026

Some 173 billionaire families own a piece of sports franchises.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026

“We can continue to make and develop and release these edgier, older-skewing animated films while also playing the hits with franchises and sequels and prequels and spin-offs. Audiences want both things.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 21, 2026

The economy was in recession in 1975 and Milton had been forced to close a few franchises.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides

The move will see Wittington buy Boots’ retail operations in the U.K. and Ireland; the Boots Opticians chain, No7 Beauty Co., and its Thailand and franchised businesses.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

The deal covers Boots' retail operations in the UK and Ireland, Boots Opticians, No7 Beauty Company and its Thailand and franchised businesses.

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026

McDonald’s and Wendy’s franchised U.S. restaurants also tend to have better margins than Burger King’s.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

He has also cited Greater Manchester's bus operating model, in which private bus firms bid to run services franchised by the local transport authority, as a possible model for regulating the water and energy sectors.

From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026

Instead of the franchised blandness of American cities, Alexandria is a city of mom-and-pop stores, all with signage screaming for attention, their wares encroaching on the streets.

From "Circumference" by Nicholas Nicastro

“We only win if you win,” said Brad Howard, co-founder and managing partner of Fantasy Claw Arcade, which is expanding through franchising.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

Jersey Mike’s founder, Peter Cancro, began working there at age 14, bought the business in 1975 and started franchising the chain in 1987.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 2, 2026

In the final minutes of the finale, Ebraheim calls Albert with the news that the franchising has begun.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026

He is also franchising his intellectual property, creating other products such as a card game inspired by "Exquisite Corpses" while holding talks with video game developers.

From Barron's ● Feb. 19, 2026

Barclay Davies, from Bus Users UK, said franchising "can be great for passengers, but it's not cheap".

From BBC ● Mar. 30, 2025

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