emancipation

Definition

The act of setting free from the power of another, as from slavery, subjection, dependence, or controlling influence.

Etymology

1630, from French émancipation, from Latin ēmancipātiō. In the US, with reference to anti-slavery, abolitionism, first used in 1785 by Charles Godfrey Leland. In Britain, with reference to easing of restrictions on Catholics, in 19th century.

Example Sentences

• "Ireland, last year, was to be paradise, if that Peri, emancipation, was but sent there; now it is a wretched, degraded, oppressed country, unless the Union be dissolved! What ever will it be the year after? So much for any certainty of right in this world!"
• "As a result of the strengthening of ethnolinguistic emancipation since the second half of the twentieth century, North Saami now enjoys probably stronger legal and institutional support than any other “minor” Uralic language[.]"
• "US President Abraham Lincoln was called the Great Emancipator after issuing the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863."

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