What does manumission mean?
Manumission means the legal release of a person from slavery or bondage. It refers both to the legal act that ended a person's status as property and, historically, to the documents or proceedings recording that act. The word is especially common in legal, historical, and genealogical contexts, where researchers may examine manumission records to establish dates of freedom, family relationships, and changes in legal status. In ordinary modern speech, emancipation is more frequently used, but manumission has the advantage of identifying a specific legal process rather than the broader condition of being free. Its literal history is especially memorable: it comes from Latin words meaning “hand” and “to send,” reflecting the older idea of releasing a person from another person's hand.
nounThe legal act of freeing a person from slavery, or the formal process by which such release is granted. The term is chiefly used in legal and historical contexts.
- The legal act of freeing a person from slavery or releasing a slave from bondage.
"The court record documented the slave's manumission and her subsequent freedom to act as a legal witness."
"The manumission was formally recorded in the court records."
"She researched manumission documents to trace her family's history."
Used when referring to multiple legal acts or instances of release from slavery.
"The archive contains manumissions dating from the nineteenth century."
Manumission literally meant “the sending of the hand”: from Latin, the word referred to releasing a enslaved person from the owner's control.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does manumission come from?
Manumission derives from Latin manumissio, a noun formed from manumittere, “to release from the hand.” The underlying roots are manus, “hand,” and mittere, “to send.” The word was used in Roman law for the formal act by which a slave owner released a slave, and it later passed into English through legal and historical usage.
Related word forms
How manumission is actually used
The word is formal and is used especially in legal, historical, and genealogical writing. In modern general usage, emancipation is usually more natural.