franchise definition | Dictionary.com

fran⋅chise

[fran-chahyz]

noun, verb, -chised, -chis⋅ing.

–noun

1.	a privilege of a public nature conferred on an individual, group, or company by a government: a franchise to operate a bus system.

2.	the right or license granted by a company to an individual or group to market its products or services in a specific territory.

3.	a store, restaurant, or other business operating under such a license.

4.	the territory over which such a license extends.

5.	the right to vote: to guarantee the franchise of every citizen.

6.	a privilege arising from the grant of a sovereign or government, or from prescription, which presupposes a grant.

7.	Sports Slang. a player of great talent or popular appeal, considered vitally important to a team's success or future.

8.	a legal immunity or exemption from a particular burden, exaction, or the like.

9.	Obsolete. freedom, esp. from imprisonment, servitude, or moral restraint.

–verb (used with object)

10.	to grant (an individual, company, etc.) a franchise: The corporation has just franchised our local dealer.

11.	enfranchise.

Origin:
1250–1300; ME < OF, deriv. of franc free. See frank ¹

Related forms:

fran⋅chis⋅a⋅ble, adjective

fran⋅chis⋅a⋅bil⋅i⋅ty, noun

fran⋅chise⋅ment [fran-chahyz-muh

nt, -chiz-]

, noun

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en⋅fran⋅chise

[en-fran-chahyz]

–verb (used with object), -chised, -chis⋅ing.

1.	to grant a franchise to; admit to citizenship, esp. to the right of voting.

2.	to endow (a city, constituency, etc.) with municipal or parliamentary rights.

3.	to set free; liberate, as from slavery.

Also, franchise.

Origin:
1505–15; < MF, OF enfranchiss- (long s. of enfranchir to free), equiv. to en- en- ¹ + franch- free (see frank ¹ ) + iss- -ish ²

Related forms:

en⋅fran⋅chise⋅ment [en-fran-chahyz-muh

nt, -chiz-]

, noun

en⋅fran⋅chis⋅er, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To franchise

fran·chise (frān'chīz')

A privilege or right officially granted a person or a group by a government, especially:
1. The constitutional or statutory right to vote.
2. The establishment of a corporation's existence.
3. The granting of certain rights and powers to a corporation.
4. Legal immunity from servitude, certain burdens, or other restrictions.
5. Authorization granted to someone to sell or distribute a company's goods or services in a certain area.
6. A business or group of businesses established or operated under such authorization.
7. A brand name under which a series of products is released.
1. Authorization granted to someone to sell or distribute a company's goods or services in a certain area.
2. A business or group of businesses established or operated under such authorization.
3. A brand name under which a series of products is released.
The territory or limits within which immunity, a privilege, or a right may be exercised.
A professional sports team.

tr.v. fran·chised, fran·chis·ing, fran·chis·es
To grant a franchise to.

[Middle English fraunchise, from Old French franchise, from franche, feminine of franc, free, exempt; see frank¹.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Franchise

Fran"chise\ (? or ?; 277), n. [F., fr. franc, fem. franche, free. See Frank, a.]

1. Exemption from constraint or oppression; freedom; liberty. [Obs.] --Spenser.

2. (LAw) A particular privilege conferred by grant from a sovereign or a government, and vested in individuals; an imunity 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. --W. 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 Encyc.

4. Magnanimity; generosity; liberality; frankness; nobility. "Franchise in woman." [Obs.] --Chaucer.

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

Franchise

Fran"chise\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Franchised; p. pr. & vb. n. Franchising.] [Cf. OF. franchir to free, F., to cross.] To make free; to enfranchise; to give liberty to. --Shak.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : franchise

Spanish: sufragio,

German: das Wahlrecht,

Japanese: 選挙権

More Translations »

franchise

In politics, the right to vote. The Constitution left the determination of the qualifications of voters to the states. In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, states usually restricted the franchise to white men who owned specified amounts of property. Gradually, poll taxes were substituted for property requirements. Before the Civil War, the voting rights of blacks were severely restricted, but the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution, declared ratified in 1870, prohibited states from abridging the right to vote on the basis of race. Nevertheless, southern states used a variety of legal ploys to restrict black voting until passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Women were not guaranteed the right to vote in federal elections until ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920. In 1971 the Twenty-sixth Amendment lowered the voting age from twenty-one to eighteen. (See suffrage and suffragette.)

Note: Losing the right to vote, called disfranchisement, is most commonly caused by failing to reregister, a procedure that is required every time a person changes residence.

franchise

In business, a relationship between a manufacturer and a retailer in which the manufacturer provides the product, sales techniques, and other kinds of managerial assistance, and the retailer promises to market the manufacturer's product rather than that of competitors. For example, most automobile dealerships are franchises. The vast majority of fast food chains are also run on the franchise principle, with the retailer paying to use the brand name.

franchise

c.1290, from O.Fr. franchise "freedom," from variant stem of franc "free" (see frank). Sense narrowed 18c. to "particular legal privilege," then "right to vote" (1790). Meaning "authorization by a company to sell its products or services" is from 1959.

franchise

An agreement between a firm and another party in which the firm provides the other party with the right to use the firm's name and to sell or rent its products. Selling franchise rights is a method of expanding a business quickly with a minimum of capital. See also franchisee, franchisor.
A right granted to another party by a government to engage in certain types of business. For example, a firm may obtain a government franchise to supply certain public services within a limited geographic region.

Main Entry: fran·chise
Pronunciation: 'fran-"chIz
Function: noun
Etymology: Anglo-French, literally, freedom, liberty, from Middle French, from franchir to free, from Old French franc free
1 : a special right or privilege granted by the government to an individual, group, or business entity: as a : a right to conduct a business and esp. to be and to exercise the powers of a corporation b : a right granted to a public utility company to provide services and to use public land for that purpose
2 : a constitutional or statutory right; especially : the right to vote —used with the franchise, legal personality, and public accommodation —W. H. Burns>
3 : a right or license that is granted to an individual or group to market a company's goods or services in a particular territory under the company's trademark, trade name, or service mark and that often involves the use of rules and procedures designed by the company and services (as advertising) and facilities provided by the company in return for fees, royalties, or other compensation; also : a business granted such a right or license franchise>
4 a : an amount of liability (as a percentage or sum) specified in an insurance contract below which an insurer disclaims liability and above which the insurer assumes total liability —compare DEDUCTIBLE b : group insurance covering fewer than the minimum number of participants required by law for such coverage

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