franchise: [13] Originally, franchise meant ‘freedom’ (as it still does in French today): ‘We will for our franchise fight and for our land’, Robert of Gloucester’s Chronicle 1297. Gradually, though, it became more specialized in sense, narrowing down via ‘particular legal privilege’ to (in the 18th century) ‘right to vote’. It comes from Old French franchise, a derivative of franc ‘free’ (whence English frank). => frank[franchise etymology, franchise origin, 英语词源]