'Enfranchise' definitions:

Definition of 'enfranchise'

(from WordNet)
verb
Grant freedom to; as from slavery or servitude; "Slaves were enfranchised in the mid-19th century" [syn: affranchise, enfranchise]
verb
Grant voting rights [ant: disenfranchise, disfranchise]

Definition of 'Enfranchise'

From: GCIDE
  • Enfranchise \En*fran"chise\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Enfranchised; p. pr. & vb. n. Enfranchising.] [Pref. en- + franchise: cf. F. enfranchir.]
  • 1. To set free; to liberate from slavery, prison, or any binding power. --Bacon. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. To endow with a franchise; to incorporate into a body politic and thus to invest with civil and political privileges; to admit to the privileges of a freeman; to give the right to vote. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. To receive as denizens; to naturalize; as, to enfranchise foreign words. --I. Watts. [1913 Webster]