Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To bestow a franchise on.
- v. To endow with the rights of citizenship, especially the right to vote.
- v. To free, as from bondage.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To set free; liberate, as from slavery; hence, to free or release from custody, bad habits, or any restraint.
- To make free of a state, city, or corporation; admit to the privileges of a freeman or citizen; admit to citizenship.
- Specifically To confer the electoral franchise upon; admit to the right of voting or taking part in public elections: as, to enfranchise a class of people; to enfranchise (in Great Britain) a borough or a university.
- To endenizen; naturalize.
- Synonyms Manumit, Liberate, etc. See emancipate.
- The feudal law, to free from the obligations of feudal tenure, as to convert a copyhold estate into a freehold.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To set free; to liberate from slavery, prison, or any binding power.
- v. To endow with a franchise; to incorporate into a body politic and thus to invest with civil and political privileges; to admit to the privileges of a freeman; to give the right to vote.
- v. To receive as denizens; to naturalize.
WordNet 3.0
- v. grant freedom to; as from slavery or servitude
- v. grant voting rights
Etymologies
- Middle English enfraunchisen, from Old French enfranchir, enfranchiss-, to set free : en-, intensive pref.; see en-1 + franchir (from franc, free; see frank1). (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Along with helping "enfranchise" Florida and Michigan Democratic voters (I voted in the Florida primary so I don't feel I was disenfranchised), I hope Senator Clinton will also repudiate racism in the President primary, as well as sexism. wsu for obama”
“Depends on whether she manages to talk the Democratic Party into changing the rules -- retroactively -- to "enfranchise" Florida and Michigan by recertifying their delegates.”
“Vertical and Diamond cut a special deal to specifically target and "enfranchise" direct market comic book shops, by offering them a limited edition of Vertical's most important release of 2008.”
“Daron and James argue that the elites enfranchise the poor to ward off revolution.”
Shimer on Acemoglu, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty
“This reaction was born, ironically, from the very reforms which were to enfranchise men.”
“In the modern world, participatory justice demands that the political system enfranchise the entire population and that there be a system of checks and balances to prevent corruption and the concentration of power in the hands of the wealthy and the few.”
The Huffington Post: Rabbi Lawrence Troster: Justice Not Triage: The Year Of The Protester
“Porter -- who Time described as a pert, brown-eyed, dark haired, nail-biting, chain-smoking, go-getter -- helped enfranchise American women to the investment world, teaching them core concepts and strategies so they need not ask for a man's help to take the reins of what Porter termed "pocketbook issues.”
“Hoping to capitalize on his newfound popularity as the country's foremost dispenser of righteous death, the president will propose a pathway to citizenship that could enfranchise millions of immigrants currently residing in the U.S.”
The Huffington Post: HUFFPOST HILL - Obama To Outline Immigration Overhaul
“A weaker economy of course means we need more government control There are more power grabs coming, but first he needs to enfranchise a whole new group of voters.”
Coyote Blog » Blog Archive » Government Stimulus in One Picture
“The dinner was acelebration of the thirty-sixth anniversary of the day the white supremacist government of Rhodesia announced a Unilateral Declaration of Independence from Great Britain, which was pressingit to enfranchise black people.”
Matthew Yglesias » Israel Deserves Better Defenders Than Andrew Roberts
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘enfranchise’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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POL - elections
weak democracy, stand a chance ag..., whistle stop, special interest ..., voting machine, trumpeting support, voting power, to court votes, war chest, short-term observ..., soak-the-rich lef..., term of office and 930 more...
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EN-HU - important words for a HU inte...
Words only (I left out the expressions) from Geza Kerenyi's EN-HU interpreters' dictionary. Most of them pose some difficulty when interpreted between HU and EN in either or both directions.
abalone, abrasive, abstractionist, abstruse, abysmal, academia, accessibility, accessible, acclimate, accolade, accompanist, achiever and 1469 more...
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EN - rare verbs
fornicate, enfranchise, tweet, natter, fetter, devil, cork, bunker, canoe, backstroke, carom, queer and 52 more...
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6691 more...
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Assigned Words
enfranchise, epiphany, equinox, expurgate, facetious, gamete, hegemony, lugubrious, moiety, nihilism, nomenclature, obsequious and 15 more...
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SAT words
abase, abate, abet, abject, abjure, abrogate, abscond, abstruse, accolade, accommodating, accost, accretion and 202 more...
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Words I Know
List of most of the words I've learned
garner, abase, abate, abdicate, abduct, aberration, abet, abhor, abide, abject, abjure, abnegation and 1046 more...
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ADW1
obdurate, obstinate, behest, injunction, enjoin, circumspect, ensconce, discursive, lugubrious, doleful, somber, ken and 2476 more...
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Hodges English 10 Vocab
All the vocab will get in class over the year.
aberration, acrimony, adduce, anthropomorphous, caitiff, chagrin, clement, connote, deluge, deride, dissemble, edify and 213 more...
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SAT Words
bigot, counterfeit, abhor, talisman, remuneration, placid, noxious, kindle, hamper, enfranchise, tangent, renown and 278 more...
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ash
ash
abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abide, abject, abjure and 4874 more...
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Norman Lewis
All Words
ebullient, eccentric, eclectic, edify, efface, effusion, egalitarian, egocentric, egoist, egregious, elicit, elliptical and 907 more...
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Words I thought I knew, but really di...
acclivity, adduce, adumbrate, animadversion, assonance, atavistic, bagatelle, bromide, buncombe, canard, categorical, cavil and 145 more...
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100 Words / 17-32
diffident, enervate, enfranchise, epiphany, equinox, euro, evanescent, expurgate, facetious, fatuous, feckless, fiduciary and 4 more...
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SAT_RW
bigot, remuneration, kindle, noxious, abhor, placid, enfranchise, counterfeit, hamper, Abrasive, bilk, covert and 87 more...
Tweets
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