franchise

¹fran·chise

noun \ˈfran-ˌchīz\

Definition of FRANCHISE

1

: freedom or immunity from some burden or restriction vested in a person or group

2

a : a special privilege granted to an individual or group; especially : the right to be and exercise the powers of a corporation b : a constitutional or statutory right or privilege; especially : the right to vote c (1) : the right or license granted to an individual or group to market a company's goods or services in a particular territory; also : a business granted such a right or license (2) : the territory involved in such a right

3

a : the right of membership in a professional sports league b : a team and its operating organization having such membership

Examples of FRANCHISE

1. She was granted an exclusive franchise in the city's west end.
2. They just opened a new fast-food franchise down the street.
3. The U.S. did not extend the franchise to women until the early 20th century.
4. He's the best player in the history of the franchise.

Origin of FRANCHISE

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from franchir to free, from franc free — more at frank

First Known Use: 14th century

Related to FRANCHISE

Synonyms: ballot, enfranchisement, vote, suffrage

Antonyms: disenfranchisement

Related Words: say, say-so, voice

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Other Business Terms

amortize, caveat emptor, clearinghouse, divest, due diligence, emolument, green-collar, marque, overhead, perquisite

Rhymes with FRANCHISE

abscise, advise, apprise, apprize, arise, assize, baptize, bite-size, breadthwise, capsize, chastise, clockwise, coastwise, cognize, comprise, crabwise, crack wise, crosswise, demise, despise, devise, disguise, disprize, door prize, downsize, earthrise, edgewise, emprise, endwise, excise, fanwise, full-size, grecize, high-rise, incise, king-size, leastwise, lengthwise, Levi's, life-size, likewise, low-rise, man-size, mid-rise, midsize, misprize, moonrise, nowise, outsize, piecewise, pint-size, premise, quantize, queen-size, remise, reprise, revise, rightsize, slantwise, streetwise, stylize, suffice, sunrise, surmise, surprise, trim size, twin-size, unwise, uprise