enfranchise

[ en-fran-chahyz ]

verb (used with object)

, en·fran·chised, en·fran·chis·ing.

1. to admit to citizenship, especially to the right of voting:

   By about 1860, most white men without property had been enfranchised.

2. to give (a person or group) the rights or privileges of full participation in society or in any community or organization, especially the opportunity to influence policy or make their voice heard:

   The online forum enfranchises nurses, giving them a sense of belonging both to the profession and to the organization they work for.

3. to set free; liberate, as from slavery or from some disabling constraint:

   Some ideologies enfranchise innovative creativity, while others suppress it.

4. to endow (a city, constituency, etc.) with municipal or parliamentary rights.
5. to grant a franchise to:

   The Chicago White Sox were enfranchised in Iowa in 1894, when the team was known as the Sioux City Cornhuskers.

6. British. to give the tenant of (a leasehold) the right to purchase freehold of the property or to extend the lease, often up to the end of life.

enfranchise

/ ɪnˈfræntʃaɪz /

verb

1. to grant the power of voting to, esp as a right of citizenship
2. to liberate, as from servitude
3. (in England) to invest (a town, city, etc) with the right to be represented in Parliament
4. English law to convert (leasehold) to freehold

Derived Forms

• enˈfranchiser, noun
• enˈfranchisement, noun

Other Words From

• en·fran·chise·ment [en-, fran, -chahyz-m, uh, nt, -chiz-], noun
• en·fran·chis·er noun
• un·en·fran·chised adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of enfranchise¹

First recorded in 1505–15; from Middle French, Old French enfranchiss- (long stem of enfranchir “to free”), equivalent to en- en- ¹ + franch- “free” ( frank ¹ ) + iss- -ish ²

Example Sentences

Now it’s about voting and how important it is for people to be enfranchised.

From Washington Post

We want to make sure that what we’re doing here is really leading the way for others to also think about how they can enfranchise immigrants in their own cities.

From Time

We also made it so voters must request an absentee ballot no less than 11 days before a primary or election to help enfranchise voters because the late requesters, they weren’t getting their ballots on time.

From Time

"To thank men like Cowan, who did not desire to enfranchise woman any more than the negro, was to stultify ourselves," he said.

From Project Gutenberg

From here on there was only one course to follow, to press again for a Sixteenth Amendment to enfranchise women.

From Project Gutenberg

An alien immigrant to our shores may desire to attain the full status of citizenship; but desire alone will never enfranchise him.

From Project Gutenberg

North Dakota's constitution provided that the legislature might in the future enfranchise women.

From Project Gutenberg

For her it was not so much a question of enlightening the angels; the important thing was to enfranchise them.

From Project Gutenberg