Emancipations

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The process of liberating individuals from constraints imposed by law, society, or authority involves a transformation of status, rights, or privileges
2. The act of removing restrictions that confine individuals or groups promotes freedom and can alter their societal roles or rights
3. The act or process of freeing someone from control or restrictions imposed by laws or social norms

Etymology: The plural "emancipations" simply counts separate acts of freeing, and the singular "emancipation" is the noun that carries the core sense. That noun came into English in 1630 from French "émancipation," itself taken from Latin "ēmancipātiō," a formal term rooted in the Roman legal idea of releasing a son or slave from a father's or master's authority. The Latin verb behind it, "emancipāre," combined "ē-" (out of) with "mancipium," a formal transfer of property, so the word's original sense was closer to handing something out of one person's legal control. The word's meaning shifted sharply in the 18th and 19th centuries. In the United States, it became tied to the anti-slavery movement; a first use with that sense is attributed to Charles Godfrey Leland in 1785. In Britain, the term was later applied to the easing of legal restrictions on Catholics during the 19th century, showing how the same vocabulary of release could serve very different campaigns.

Synonyms: liberations, freedoms, deliverances

Antonyms: enslavements, oppressions