- a privilege of a public nature conferred on an individual, group, or company by a government: a franchise to operate a bus system.
- the right or license granted by a company to an individual or group to market its products or services in a specific territory.
- a store, restaurant, or other business operating under such a license.
- the territory over which such a license extends.
- the right to vote: to guarantee the franchise of every citizen.
- a privilege arising from the grant of a sovereign or government, or from prescription, which presupposes a grant.
- Sports.
- the right to own or operate a professional sports team as a member of a league.
- a professional sports team.
- a player of great talent or popular appeal, considered vitally important to a team's success or future.
- a set of creative works and related merchandise that share a fictional world, as films, television shows, books, or games:the Star Wars franchise; the Pokémon franchise.
- a legal immunity or exemption from a particular burden, exaction, or the like.
- freedom, especially from imprisonment, servitude, or moral restraint.
- to grant (an individual, company, etc.) a franchise: The corporation has just franchised our local dealer.
- enfranchise.
- the right to vote, esp for representatives in a legislative body; suffrage
- any exemption, privilege, or right granted to an individual or group by a public authority, such as the right to use public property for a business
- authorization granted by a manufacturing enterprise to a distributor to market the manufacturer's products
- the full rights of citizenship
- a film that is or has the potential to be part of a series and lends itself to merchandising
- (in marine insurance) a sum or percentage stated in a policy, below which the insurer disclaims all liability
- to grant (a person, firm, etc) a franchise
- an obsolete word for enfranchise
