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To emancipate someone (including oneself) is to free them from restraint, control, or the power of another, and especially to free them from bondage or enslavement. It follows that the noun emancipation refers to the act or practice of emancipating. The Emancipation Proclamation issued by Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, for example, ordered that enslaved people living in the Confederate states be released from the bonds of ownership and made free people. It took more than two years for news of the proclamation to reach the enslaved communities in the distant state of Texas. The arrival of the news on June 19 (of 1865) is now celebrated as a national holiday—Juneteenth or Emancipation Day.
Examples of emancipation in a Sentence
Michael Barnes, Austin American Statesman, 2 July 2025
But as a marker of emancipation, the day has carried significance for over a century, ever since Union troops rode into Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, and declared freedom for all the men, women and children still shackled by slavery.
—Andrea Williams, Nashville Tennessean, 21 June 2025
Others contend the different date is simply a reflection of how learning about Lincoln's executive order of emancipation reached faraway, rural enclaves at times later than Galveston, Texas.
—Phillip M. Bailey, USA Today, 20 June 2025
Juneteenth, celebrated on June 19, 2025, commemorates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans in the U.S.
Designated a federal holiday in 2021, Juneteenth will close most federal offices, banks, and post offices.
—Alex Perry, Cincinnati Enquirer, 19 June 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Emancipation.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/emancipation. Accessed 11 Jul. 2025.
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