franchise Meaning, Definition & Usage

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
dealership.
noun a statutory right or privilege granted to a person or group by a government (especially the rights of citizenship and the right to vote)
enfranchisement.
verb grant a franchise to

F., fr. franc, fem. franche, free. See Frank, a.

Exemption from constraint or oppression; freedom; liberty. Obs. Spenser.
(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.
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.
Magnanimity; generosity; liberality; frankness; nobility. "Franchise in woman." Obs. Chaucer.

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

imperfect & past participle Franchised ; present participle & verbal noun Franchising