Manumit
/ˌmænjəˈmɪt/noun
To release a slave from bondage or slavery.
Did you know?Manumit comes from Roman legal language, where freedom was not abstract: it was a formal act of the master’s hand, turning a person from property into a free citizen.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*man-
“hand”
Latin
Latin
manus
“hand”
Classical Latin
Latin
manumittere
“to release a slave, literally “send out by hand””
Late Latin
Latin
manumissio
“the act of freeing a slave”
Middle English
English
manumitten
“to free from slavery”
Modern English
English
manumit
“to free from slavery”
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