Etymograph

English

enfranchise

Enfranchise comes from Old French enfranchir ‘to set free, enfranchise’, and goes back to Latin in ‘in, into’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEin‘in, into’
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400enfranchir‘to set free, enfranchise’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1842enfranchise

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Earlier history not traced here.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEin‘in, into’
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400enfranchir‘to set free, enfranchise’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1842enfranchise

Earliest quotation: 1842, anonymous collaborator of Letitia Elizab, Keeping up Appearances. […]: “Parental control had been so decisive in Louisa's case…”

Formed from en- + franchise

Latin Francus

Old French franc ‘free’

Old French franchise ‘freedom’

Middle English franchise ‘freedom, franchise’

English franchise

Linked words

through Latin in ‘in, into’

intimate, encounter, ensemble, intestine, envelop, emplacement, intimation, agog, 4 more

Today it means

verb To grant the franchise to an entity, specifically: To grant the privilege of voting to a person or group of people.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Latin in / enfranchise

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