Affranchising

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To set free from restrictions or servitude; to grant someone the rights and privileges typically reserved for a free individual; the act of liberating someone from a bond of dependency or obligation that limits their autonomy
2. The process of releasing a person or group from constraints, allowing them full rights and the ability to act independently; to empower individuals by removing limitations imposed by others; an effort to ensure freedom and self-governance for those previously subjugated
3. An action that enables freedom from oppression or legal restrictions; conferring the full rights of citizenship or independence to a formerly restricted group; the journey toward personal and social emancipation from coercive influences

Etymology: Medieval French law gave this verb its original job: formally freeing a serf or slave. Old French "affranchir" combined "a-" (to make) with "franc" (free), so to affranchir someone was to make them free. "Franc" is related to the name of the Franks, though etymologists still debate exactly how the people's name and the adjective connect. "Franchise," which comes from the same French root, shares the family. It first meant a liberty or privilege granted to a person or group, which is why voting rights and business franchises are cousins. "Affranchising" is the present participle of the verb, so the modern sense of empowering people comes from the older legal act of granting freedom. English also used the verb for prepaying postage, since a stamped letter was freed from a charge on delivery.

Synonyms: emancipating, liberating, freeing, manumitting, unshackling

Antonyms: enslaving, imprisoning, capturing, bonding, subjugating