ENFRANCHISEMENT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does enfranchisement mean? 

• ENFRANCHISEMENT (noun)
  The noun ENFRANCHISEMENT has 3 senses:

1. freedom from political subjugation or servitude

2. a statutory right or privilege granted to a person or group by a government (especially the rights of citizenship and the right to vote)

3. the act of certifying or bestowing a franchise on

  Familiarity information: ENFRANCHISEMENT used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ENFRANCHISEMENT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Freedom from political subjugation or servitude

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("enfranchisement" is a kind of...):

freedom (the condition of being free; the power to act or speak or think without externally imposed restraints)

Derivation:

enfranchise (grant freedom to; as from slavery or servitude)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A statutory right or privilege granted to a person or group by a government (especially the rights of citizenship and the right to vote)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

enfranchisement; franchise

Hypernyms ("enfranchisement" is a kind of...):

legal right (a right based in law)

Domain category:

jurisprudence; law (the collection of rules imposed by authority)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "enfranchisement"):

right to vote; suffrage; vote (a legal right guaranteed by the 15th amendment to the US Constitution; guaranteed to women by the 19th amendment)

Derivation:

enfranchise (grant voting rights)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The act of certifying or bestowing a franchise on

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

certification; enfranchisement

Hypernyms ("enfranchisement" is a kind of...):

authorisation; authorization; empowerment (the act of conferring legality or sanction or formal warrant)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "enfranchisement"):

accreditation (the act of granting credit or recognition (especially with respect to educational institution that maintains suitable standards))

Antonym:

disenfranchisement (the act of withdrawing certification or terminating a franchise)

 Context examples 

The expense would be nothing, the inconvenience not more; and it was altogether an attention which the delicacy of his conscience pointed out to be requisite to its complete enfranchisement from his promise to his father.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)