franchise

American  

[fran-chahyz] / ˈfræn tʃaɪz /

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)

franchised, franchising

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

   The corporation has just franchised our local dealer.

2. enfranchise.

franchise British  

/ ˈfræntʃɪzmənt, 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

---

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.

---

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.)

---

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

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

Etymology

Origin of franchise

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

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

The growth at its private banking franchise is “not just a win for the private bank—it’s a win for the entire enterprise,” CEO Bruce Van Saun wrote in a 2025 shareholder letter.

From Barron's • Apr. 14, 2026

The company has built a niche lending franchise focusing on small- and medium-size enterprises, with over 70% of its loan mix tied to SMEs across commercial, hire purchase, and construction-linked financing.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 14, 2026

Vachon had become Southern California’s first hockey star and the face of a franchise that badly needed one.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 12, 2026

This is a film that dinosaur fans have been waiting for — a new, big-budget studio film existing outside the tired “Jurassic” franchise.

From Salon • Apr. 12, 2026

One day, in 2006, Zeitoun was visiting his cousin Adnan at his Subway franchise downtown.

From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers