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The Emancipation Proclamation, issued by Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, ordered that enslaved people living in rebellious territories be released from the bonds of ownership and made free people—their own masters. Though the proclamation's initial impact was limited, the order was true to the etymology of emancipation, which comes from a Latin word combining the prefix e-, meaning "away," and mancipare, meaning "to transfer ownership of.”
Examples of emancipation in a Sentence
a book discussing the role that the emancipation of slaves played in the nation's history
Recent Examples on the Web
This mutual respect continued after emancipation, as Nearest Green became the first master distiller for the Jack Daniel Distillery.
—
Ian and Tonya Fitzpatrick, Miami Herald, 29 Jan. 2025
Sherman’s march would mark the culmination of military emancipation, and this fact alone justifies the closer look that Parten gives it.
—Scott Spillman, The New Yorker, 29 Jan. 2025
Watch Night served to mark enslaved people’s experience of family separation, emancipation, and a long freedom struggle.
—Nyya Toussaint / Made By History, TIME, 31 Dec. 2024
Such was the case for the Carolina Corps, a military unit comprising roughly 300 fugitives from slavery who took up arms for the British in exchange for emancipation.
—Kinsey Gidick, Smithsonian Magazine, 12 Dec. 2024
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Ian and Tonya Fitzpatrick, Miami Herald, 29 Jan. 2025
Sherman’s march would mark the culmination of military emancipation, and this fact alone justifies the closer look that Parten gives it.
—Scott Spillman, The New Yorker, 29 Jan. 2025
Watch Night served to mark enslaved people’s experience of family separation, emancipation, and a long freedom struggle.
—Nyya Toussaint / Made By History, TIME, 31 Dec. 2024
Such was the case for the Carolina Corps, a military unit comprising roughly 300 fugitives from slavery who took up arms for the British in exchange for emancipation.
—Kinsey Gidick, Smithsonian Magazine, 12 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for emancipation
Dictionary Entries Near emancipation
Cite this Entry
“Emancipation.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/emancipation. Accessed 2 Feb. 2025.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
emancipation
noun
eman·ci·pa·tion
i-ˌman(t)-sə-ˈpā-shən 
: gradual separation of an original homogeneous embryo into fields with different specific potentialities for development
Legal Definition
emancipation
noun
eman·ci·pa·tion
i-ˌman-sə-ˈpā-shən
: the act or process of emancipating
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