Enfranchising

1 definition found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [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]