franchise

noun

• 1an authorization granted by a government or company to an individual or group enabling them to carry out specified commercial activities, e.g., providing a broadcasting service or acting as an agent for a company’s products.
• a business or service given a franchise to operate.
• a general title or concept used for creating or marketing a series of products, typically films or television shows:the Harry Potter franchise
• (chiefly in North America) an ownership structure in professional sports in which a league is limited to a fixed number of teams.
• North American an authorization given by a league to own a sports team.
• North American informal a professional sports team.
• (also franchise player) North American informal a star player on a team.

• 2 (usually the franchise) the right to vote.
• the rights of citizenship.

verb

• grant a franchise to (an individual or group).
• grant a franchise for the sale of (goods) or the operation of (a service):all the catering was franchised out