emancipate English · revision 164
5 Oct 2026, 22:09 by bogdan “Add pronunciation, sense history, timeline, meanings, word family, related words” current version
Changes in this edit
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+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA: /ɪˈmæn(t)sɪpeɪt/, /ɪˈmæn(t)sɪpət/ ''(UK)''; /əˈmæn(t)səˌpeɪt/, /i-/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)
+
==Etymology==
First recorded in the 1620s,^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) [[bor|la|ēmancipātus]], past participle of [[la|ēmancipāre]],^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) from ''ē-'' “out” + ''mancipium'' “ownership”,^(AHD)^(Etymonline) itself from ''manus'' “hand” + ''capere'' “to take”.^(Etymonline)^(RHWU)
− In Roman law the verb meant to release a son or wife from the legal authority of the head of the family;^(Etymonline) it was not used of freeing slaves, for which the verb was ''manumittere''.^(Etymonline) In English it was taken up by the cause of religious toleration in the 17th century and of anti-slavery from 1776.^(Etymonline)
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ In Roman law, to release a child or wife from the authority of the head of the family.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) The OED's earliest quotation for the general sense “to set free from control” is from 1625, and for the Roman-law sense from 1651.^(OED 1989)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ In Roman law the verb was not used of freeing slaves, for which the verb was ''manumittere''.^(Etymonline) In English it was taken up by the cause of religious toleration in the 17th century and of anti-slavery from 1776.^(Etymonline) From 1646 it was used of freedom from intellectual or moral restraint,^(OED 1989) and from 1850 of women freeing themselves from conventional customs.^(Etymonline) The OED also records an opposite, now obsolete sense, “to enslave” (1629), because emancipation in Roman law was carried out by a fictitious sale.^(OED 1989)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 1605 – participle adjective, “emancipated”.^(OED 1989)
+ * 1613 – Merriam-Webster's date.^(MW Collegiate)
+ * 1625 – “to set free from control”.^(OED 1989)
+ * 1629 – “to enslave”, now obsolete.^(OED 1989)
+ * 1651 – in Roman law.^(OED 1989)
+ * 1776 – in the anti-slavery cause.^(Etymonline)
+ * 1850 – of women freeing themselves from convention.^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Verb===
+ # To free from bondage, oppression, or restraint.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+ # To free from a controlling influence, such as tradition.^(MW Collegiate)^(Wiktionary)
+ # ''(law)'' To release a child from the control of parents or a guardian.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)
+
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[emancipative]]
+ * [[emancipator]]
+ * [[emancipatory]]
+ * [[emancipated]]
+ * [[unemancipated]]
+
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[capable]]
+ * [[emancipation]]
+ * [[manual]]
+ * [[nonemancipation]]
+ * [[manumit]]
==References==