Synonyms

emancipate

American

[ih-man-suh-peyt] / ɪˈmæn səˌpeɪt /

verb (used with object)

emancipated, emancipating

to free from restraint, influence, or the like.
to free (a person) from bondage or slavery.
Roman and Civil Law. to terminate paternal control over.

emancipate British

/ -trɪ, ɪˈmænsɪpətərɪ, ɪˈmænsɪˌpeɪt /

verb

to free from restriction or restraint, esp social or legal restraint
(often passive) to free from the inhibitions imposed by conventional morality
to liberate (a slave) from bondage

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Related Words

See release.

Other Word Forms

emancipated adjective
emancipative adjective
emancipator noun
emancipatory adjective
nonemancipative adjective
unemancipative adjective

Etymology

Origin of emancipate

First recorded in 1615–25; from Latin ēmancipātus (past participle of ēmancipāre ) “freed from control,” equivalent to ē- “out of, from” ( e- ¹ ) + man(us) “hand” + -cip- (combining form of capere “to seize”) + -ātus past participle suffix ( -ate ¹ )

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023