as in to free
to set free (as from slavery or confinement)
though he was an outspoken defender of liberty, this son of Virginia did not manumit his own slaves until he was on his deathbed
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Recent Examples of manumit
Tubman’s father had been manumitted by his owner, but Brodess had inherited Tubman, hiring her and her siblings out to neighbors for seasonal work, whether trapping muskrats or clearing land.
—
Casey Cep, The New Yorker, 24 June 2024
Grant would manumit his one enslaved servant, William Jones, in 1859.
—Harold Holzer, WSJ, 1 Jan. 2024
In one county, not a single enslaved person was manumitted in 1859.
—John Reeves, Smithsonian Magazine, 5 Dec. 2023
No evidence exists to suggest Kirby Smith did manumit him.
—Cynthia Greenlee, Smithsonian Magazine, 10 Jan. 2023
Some states, like the state of Georgia, passed expulsion laws that required blacks who were manumitted to leave the state within a year of their emancipation.
—Tera W. Hunter, The Root, 15 May 2018
Casey Cep, The New Yorker, 24 June 2024
Grant would manumit his one enslaved servant, William Jones, in 1859.
—Harold Holzer, WSJ, 1 Jan. 2024
In one county, not a single enslaved person was manumitted in 1859.
—John Reeves, Smithsonian Magazine, 5 Dec. 2023
No evidence exists to suggest Kirby Smith did manumit him.
—Cynthia Greenlee, Smithsonian Magazine, 10 Jan. 2023
Some states, like the state of Georgia, passed expulsion laws that required blacks who were manumitted to leave the state within a year of their emancipation.
—Tera W. Hunter, The Root, 15 May 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for manumit
Verb
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He was released by Hamas earlier this month after 484 days of captivity, one of the 19 Israeli hostages freed alive under the January 2025 ceasefire deal.—
Mohammed Tawfeeq,
CNN,
21 Feb. 2025
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The idea is to free you up to comfortably use the car's infotainment screen, talk to co-passengers, and catch up on books or videos on long journeys and commutes.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
21 Feb. 2025
Verb
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In 2023, Jaar released Intiha, an abstract collaboration with the composer Ali Sethi, and last year, the Chilean-American producer released Piedras 1 & 2, two ambitious LPs tackling Chilean history and Palestinian erasure.—
Eric Renner Brown,
Billboard,
27 Feb. 2025
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Common Sense Media has released a new report that looks at the 2024 media use of children ages 0 to 8, pointing to some of the challenges faced by those educating this generation.—
Peter Greene,
Forbes,
27 Feb. 2025
Verb
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Artist and rapper Mary Enoch Elizabeth Baxter, herself formerly incarcerated and commissioned to create a new work for the Rikers women, worked with Ringgold, politicians, artists, philanthropists, and corrections officers to liberate the original painting.—
Samantha Bergeson,
IndieWire,
26 Feb. 2025
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Tragically, Hunt notes, the same global commodity that may have helped liberate British women did the opposite for West Africans, who endured the Middle Passage in ever larger numbers to work as slaves in the Caribbean sugar fields and sweeten English tea.—
Marjoleine Kars,
New York Times,
19 Feb. 2025
Verb
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The announcement comes barely two years after Amazon rescued the series from cancellation, marking a bittersweet end to the show’s 40-year legacy.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
21 Feb. 2025
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Israeli forces have rescued eight and have recovered dozens of bodies of people killed in the initial attack or who died in captivity.—
Mohammad Jahjouh,
Los Angeles Times,
20 Feb. 2025
Verb
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Under this framework, any slaves coming voluntarily to Union lines were effectively emancipated.—
Scott Spillman,
The New Yorker,
29 Jan. 2025
-
In 2015, at age 17, she was legally emancipated from her mother.—
Andrew Walsh,
EW.com,
22 Dec. 2024
Verb
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After the Third Reform Act of 1884, six of 10 adult Englishmen were enfranchised.—
Geoffrey Wheatcroft,
New York Times,
18 Jan. 2025
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Millions were enfranchised when women got the vote in 1920, but Black women were mostly excluded from voting due to legal discrimination.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
18 Sep. 2024
Verb
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Capping them could save $5 billion a year, or $225 per fee-paying household.—
Daniel de Visé,
USA TODAY,
22 Feb. 2025
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Put another way, in this view, well-off people who choose to live in profligate spending states shouldn’t get to deduct state and local taxes on their federal returns, saving large amounts of money ahead of each April 15.—
David Mark,
Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government,
21 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Manumit.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/manumit. Accessed 3 Mar. 2025.
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