Affranchise
/əˈfræn.tʃaɪz/noun
To set free from restraint or slavery; to grant rights or privileges, especially citizenship or voting rights.
Did you know?Affranchise comes from the same French root as **frank**, once meaning “free” or “noble,” so its deepest history is about freedom being a status you could grant with language.
Etymological Timeline
Latin
Latin
francus
“free; exempt; frank”
Old French
OF
afranchir
“to free, set at liberty, make free”
Middle English
ME
afranchisen
“to free, enfranchise”
14th–15th Century
English
affranchise
“to grant freedom or privileges; to enfranchise”
Modern English
English
affranchise
“to free from restraint or grant legal rights or privileges”