franchise

Noun · Verb
US[fran-chahyz]/ˈfrænˌtʃaɪz/2 syllables

Open English WordNet

Noun (3)franchises

  1. an authorization to sell a company's goods or services in a particular placeType of concession, grant
  2. a business established or operated under an authorization to sell or distribute a company's goods or services in a particular areaSynonyms: dealershipType of business, concern
  3. a statutory right or privilege granted to a person or group by a government (especially the rights of citizenship and the right to vote)Synonyms: enfranchisementType of legal rightKinds right to vote, vote

Verb (1)franchises, franchised, franchising

  1. grant a franchise toMore general license, licence
Word of the day · Sep 29About this word
haphazardadjective

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Translations

Noun licence to sell a company's goods

Spanish
franquicia
French
franchise
German
Franchise
Portuguese
franquia
Russian
франши́за franšíza
Japanese
フランチャイズ furanchaizu
Polish
ajencja
Swedish
franchise
Portuguese (PT)
franquia
3 more languages
Finnish
luvake
Scottish Gaelic
còir

Noun right to vote at a public election

Turkish
oy hakkı
Hungarian
választójog
Scottish Gaelic
còir

The main translation for each meaning, from the langtolang.com multilingual dictionary. Each word links to its full entry there.

Webster's Dictionary (1913)

Fran′chise (? or ?; 277), noun

Origin: F., fr. franc, fem. franche, free. See Frank, adjective

1. Exemption from constraint or oppression; freedom; liberty. obsolete Edmund Spenser

2. LAw A particular privilege conferred by grant from a sovereign or a government, and vested in individuals; an immunity or exemption from ordinary jurisdiction; a constitutional or statutory right or privilege, esp. the right to vote.

Election by universal suffrage, as modified by the Constitution, is the one crowning franchise of the American people.— William H. Seward

3. The district or jurisdiction to which a particular privilege extends; the limits of an immunity; hence, an asylum or sanctuary.

Churches and mobasteries in Spain are franchises for criminals.— London Encyclopædia

4. Magnanimity; generosity; liberality; frankness; nobility. “Franchise in woman.” obsolete Geoffrey Chaucer

Elective franchise, the privilege or right of voting in an election of public officers.


Fran′chise transitive verb [past tense & past participle Franchised; present participle & verbal noun Franchising.]

Origin: Cf. OF. franchir to free, F., to cross.

To make free; to enfranchise; to give liberty to. William Shakespeare

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54

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