franchisement

Noun

franchisement (usually uncountable, plural franchisements)

1. (usually) Release; deliverance; freedom
   • On his first quest , the which him forth did call,
     To weet , to worke Irenaes franchisement1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC
   • That fate which did thy franchisement inforce, And from the depth of danger set thee free,1603, Michael Drayton, The Barons' Wars
2. (usually) Right; privilege, especially the right to vote.
   • And, as sure as this is black upon a white ground, so sure are we of the franchisement of women.1851, Constance Agathat Ogilvy, “The Franchisement of Women”, in Ainsworth's magazine
   • When the barons met King John and demanded franchisement at his hands, was it based upon the plea that they were mentally equal with him?1898, Official Report of the Proceedings and Debates of the Utah. Constitutional Convention