- admission to citizenship, especially to the right of voting: Their government introduced land reform and female enfranchisement in the early 1960s.
- the act of giving a person or group the rights or privileges of full participation in society or in any community or organization, especially the opportunity to influence policy or make their voice heard: We are starting to see the end of long-standing barriers to the full enfranchisement of people of color in the business world.
- the act of liberating or freeing someone or something, as from slavery or from some disabling constraint: To some, the Reformation was the enfranchisement of the individual from bondage to corrupt religious tradition.
- the act of endowing a city, constituency, etc., with municipal rights or the right to be represented in parliament: The enfranchisement of towns in the 11th century was the fruit of a war declared by urban populations against their lords.
- the act of granting a franchise to an individual, group, or company to own and operate a business, major-league sports team, or public utility: The enfranchisement of lawyer Joe Robbie and actor Danny Thomas in 1965 made the Miami Dolphins the ninth team in the AFL.
- a legal process giving the tenant of a leasehold the right to purchase freehold of the property or to extend the lease, often up to the end of life: Enfranchisement will be refused where the property stands on land which is held inalienably by the landlord.
