emancipation
Americannoun
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the act of freeing or state of being freed; liberation
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informal freedom from inhibition and convention
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of emancipation
First recorded in 1625–35; from Latin ēmancipātiōn-, stem of ēmancipātiō, from ēmancipāt(us) “freed from control” (past participle of ēmancipāre “to free from control”; see emancipate) + -iō -ion
Compare meaning
How does emancipation compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
Emancipation is being set free from the control of someone or something. Your emancipation from your parents comes when you turn 18 and are legally considered an adult. The word appears most memorably in the Emancipation Proclamation, Abraham Lincoln's order of 1863 that freed enslaved people in the U.S. Emancipation can describe any kind of liberation: "If you're really chafing under the rigors of practicing for the upcoming game, you and your teammates can go on strike for emancipation from the grueling schedule your coach has decreed."
Vocabulary lists containing emancipation
Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" Speech (1963)
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American History I
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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I've Been to the Mountaintop" (1968)
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Lyle Cherneff: Maryland historian Richard Paul Fugate estimates that between 3,000 and 4,000 children, in the first weeks after emancipation alone, were re-enslaved through these fraudulent indenture contracts.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
A hotbed of feminist rebellion, its corset-shattering, myth-busting history encompasses a journey of emancipation, imagination, and healthy disdain for patriarchal expectations.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
He conveys the grief and terror felt by abolitionists in the founding generation, who predicted catastrophe, and the abhorrence of the institution among such men as Adams, who believed in emancipation by gradual means.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
And what do Americans think of when they think of the emancipation of enslaved people?
From Salon ● Jun. 19, 2026
His will ordered the emancipation of those enslaved people who belonged to him following Mrs. Washington’s death.
From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
