Franchise word meaning and definition

[noun] a statutory right or privilege granted to a person or group by a government (especially the right to vote)
[noun] an authorization to sell a company's goods or services in a particular place
[noun] a business established or operated under an authorization to sell or distribute a company's goods or services in a particular area
[verb] grant a franchise to; in commerce

\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.
\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.

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