emancipate

verb

eman·ci·pate i-ˈman(t)-sə-ˌpāt

emancipated; emancipating

Synonyms of emancipate next

transitive verb

: to free from restraint, control, or the power of another

especially : to free from bondage

: to release from parental care and responsibility and make sui juris

: to free from any controlling influence (such as traditional mores or beliefs)

emancipator

i-ˈman(t)-sə-ˌpā-tər

noun

emancipatory

i-ˈman(t)-sə-pə-ˌtȯr-ē

adjective

Choose the Right Synonym for emancipate

free, release, liberate, emancipate, manumit mean to set loose from restraint or constraint.

free implies a usually permanent removal from whatever binds, confines, entangles, or oppresses.

freed the animals from their cages

release suggests a setting loose from confinement, restraint, or a state of pressure or tension, often without implication of permanent liberation.

released his anger on a punching bag

liberate stresses particularly the resulting state of liberty.

liberated their country from the tyrant

emancipate implies the liberation of a person from subjection or domination.

labor-saving devices emancipated us from household drudgery

manumit implies emancipation from slavery.

the document manumitted the slaves

Example Sentences

He felt the only way to emancipate himself from his parents was to move away. under the cover of darkness animal rights activists emancipated the inhabitants of the mink ranch

Recent Examples on the Web Shortly afterward, Wheatley was emancipated and married John Peters, a pioneering freedman. —

Tiana Woodard, BostonGlobe.com, 3 May 2023 The planter and politician John Randolph of Roanoke, one of the leading defenders of slavery in early-19th-century America, emancipated his nearly 400 enslaved people in his will. —

David S. Reynolds, wsj.com, 18 Apr. 2023 Last week, President Biden signed a new federal holiday into law: Juneteenth, which commemorates June 19, 1865, the day that Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to emancipate the last slaves being held in the nation and to officially announce the end of the Civil War. —

Condé Nast Traveler, 24 June 2021 Nanny, Jamaica’s national hero and the great leader of the self-emancipating Maroons, was also a known practitioner of Obeah. —

Text By Nicole Dennis-benn, New York Times, 23 Mar. 2023 As Levy sees it, American history feebly attempts to level the founding fathers' fondness for freedom with their ownership of humans by uncritically parroting their assertions that there was no pragmatic way to emancipate hundreds of thousands of slaves. —

Eliott C. Mclaughlin, CNN, 5 Sep. 2021 There was hardly a mighty current of sentiment abroad in the land to emancipate the enslaved and extend citizenship to the newly freed in a Promised Land of racial and civil equality. —

Jon Meacham, Time, 12 Oct. 2022 Because tradition can suffocate, and tradition can emancipate. —

Patrick J. Deneen, Harper’s Magazine , 5 Jan. 2023 Bynes sought to legally emancipate herself from her parents, then withdrew the petition. —

Mia Mcniece, Peoplemag, 26 Sep. 2022 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'emancipate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Latin emancipatus, past participle of emancipare, from e- + mancipare to transfer ownership of, from mancip-, manceps contractor, from manus hand + capere to take — more at manual, heave entry 1

First Known Use

1613, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler

The first known use of emancipate was in 1613

See more words from the same year

Cite this Entry

Style

“Emancipate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/emancipate. Accessed 6 Jun. 2023.

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Kids Definition

emancipate

verb

eman·ci·pate i-ˈman(t)-sə-ˌpāt

emancipated; emancipating

: to free from someone else's control or power

especially : to free from slavery

emancipation

-ˌman(t)-sə-ˈpā-shən

noun

emancipator

-ˈman(t)-sə-ˌpāt-ər

noun

emancipatory

-ˈman(t)-sə-pə-ˌtōr-ē

-ˌtȯr-ē

adjective

Legal Definition

emancipate

transitive verb

eman·ci·pate i-ˈman-sə-ˌpāt

emancipated; emancipating

: to free from restraint, control, or the power of another

especially : to free from bondage

emancipated the slaves

compare enfranchise

: to release from the care, responsibility, and control of one's parents compare age of majority, legal age

Note: The circumstances under which a minor may become emancipated vary from state to state. In many states, however, the marriage of a minor results in his or her emancipation.