Meaning & use

emancipate

verb·Advanced

To free someone from legal, social, or political restrictions, especially from slavery or parental control.

See it in a sentence

President Lincoln's proclamation helped emancipate enslaved people in the Confederate states.

A court can legally emancipate a minor who proves they can support themselves.

A note on using this word

Emancipate is most strongly associated with freeing people from slavery, though it can describe freedom from any formal or restrictive control.

Words with a similar meaning

liberatefree

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

enslave

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