Synonym Chooser

How does the verb manumit differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of manumit are emancipate, free, liberate, and release. While all these words mean "to set loose from restraint or constraint," manumit implies emancipation from slavery.

the document manumitted the slaves

When would emancipate be a good substitute for manumit?

The words emancipate and manumit are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, emancipate implies the liberation of a person from subjection or domination.

labor-saving devices emancipated us from household drudgery

Where would free be a reasonable alternative to manumit?

Although the words free and manumit have much in common, free implies a usually permanent removal from whatever binds, confines, entangles, or oppresses.

freed the animals from their cages

When is liberate a more appropriate choice than manumit?

The synonyms liberate and manumit are sometimes interchangeable, but liberate stresses particularly the resulting state of liberty.

liberated their country from the tyrant

In what contexts can release take the place of manumit?

The meanings of release and manumit largely overlap; however, 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

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of manumit Tubman’s father had been manumitted by his owner, but Brodess had inherited Tubman, hiring her and her siblings out to neighbors for seasonal work, whether trapping muskrats or clearing land. Casey Cep, The New Yorker, 24 June 2024 Grant would manumit his one enslaved servant, William Jones, in 1859. Harold Holzer, WSJ, 1 Jan. 2024 In one county, not a single enslaved person was manumitted in 1859. John Reeves, Smithsonian Magazine, 5 Dec. 2023 No evidence exists to suggest Kirby Smith did manumit him. Cynthia Greenlee, Smithsonian Magazine, 10 Jan. 2023 Some states, like the state of Georgia, passed expulsion laws that required blacks who were manumitted to leave the state within a year of their emancipation. Tera W. Hunter, The Root, 15 May 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for manumit
Verb
  • Using his electric superpower, Fester causes an explosion that frees the L.O.I.S. subjects from their cells.
    Selome Hailu, Variety, 7 Aug. 2025
  • The pod design also frees up space in the engine compartment to store and launch a tender.
    Michael Verdon, Robb Report, 6 Aug. 2025
Verb
  • Blockbusters are released in five or six languages at once.
    Vibhas Ratanjee, Forbes.com, 15 Aug. 2025
  • The Violent Crime Rate in D.C. has worsened, and the Murder Rate has essentially DOUBLED in just over a decade—But these are only the 'official' statistics released by corrupt City Officials.
    Anna Commander Robert Birsel, MSNBC Newsweek, 14 Aug. 2025
Verb
  • Shaked, who was liberated from the Matthausen camp, was referring to the condition of Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski, young men abducted on Oct. 7, 2023, from the Nova music festival in southern Israel.
    Philissa Cramer, Sun Sentinel, 11 Aug. 2025
  • How did One Piece season 1 end? Season 1 of Netflix's One Piece adaptation ended with Luffy and the Straw Hat gang liberating Nami's hometown of Coco Village from Arlong (McKinley Belcher III), the spiky-nosed fish-man with hopes of turning the village into a fish-men empire.
    EW.com, EW.com, 11 Aug. 2025
Verb
  • The victim was later pronounced dead at a hospital after she was rescued from the bin Authorities are seeking the public's help with information about the incident Authorities are investigating the death of a woman whose head was stuck in a donation box in Lodi, Calif.
    David Chiu, People.com, 6 Aug. 2025
  • Rescue calls have also risen by 20% over last year, which led to the closure of some of the most treacherous routes around Cortina and San Vito di Cadore, where the British hiker was rescued, Maurizio Dellantonio, chief of CNSAS, said at the weekend.
    Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNN Money, 5 Aug. 2025
Verb
  • Creators could become emancipated from their platofrms, and communities develop not just social but real currencies.
    Boaz Sobrado, Forbes.com, 6 Aug. 2025
  • Juneteenth marks the day in 1865 when Union soldiers informed enslaved people in Texas — the last state to enforce slavery — that they’d been emancipated.
    Brian Niemietz, New York Daily News, 19 June 2025
Verb
  • Open primaries would enfranchise more than a million New York voters, who are disproportionately young and represent communities of color.
    John Avlon, New York Daily News, 7 July 2025
  • About a year after the infirmary team returned to the United States, the 19th Amendment became law, enfranchising 27 million women, the largest expansion of voting rights in American history.
    Amy Sohn, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 June 2025
Verb
  • It’s become a reviewer-favorite for its wrinkle-free fabric, which will save time getting dressed in the morning.
    Rylee Johnston, People.com, 7 Aug. 2025
  • The fact that this movie is streaming on Amazon and Amazon is presented as the only thing that could ever save humanity from an existential threat is hilarious.
    Jordan Hoffman, EW.com, 7 Aug. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Manumit.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/manumit. Accessed 19 Aug. 2025.

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