Franchise vs. Branch — What's the Difference?

A privilege or right granted by law, especially the right to vote in the election of public officials.

A branch (UK: or UK: , US: ) or tree branch (sometimes referred to in botany as a ramus) is a woody structural member connected to but not part of the central trunk of a tree (or sometimes a shrub). Large branches are known as boughs and small branches are known as twigs.

A special privilege given by government to a corporation or an individual to engage in a particular activity using public facilities, especially to provide a public service such as transportation or communications.

A part of a tree which grows out from the trunk or from a bough

The establishment of a corporation, including the granting of certain privileges such as exemption from individual liability for the acts of the corporation.

(of a road or path) divide into one or more subdivisions

Authorization granted to someone to sell or distribute a company's goods or services in a certain area.

(of a tree or plant) bear or send out branches

A business or group of businesses established or operated under such authorization.

A secondary woody stem or limb growing from the trunk or main stem of a tree or shrub or from another secondary limb.

A brand name under which a series of products is released.

A lateral division or subdivision of certain other plant parts, such as a root or flower cluster.

The territory or limits within which immunity, a privilege, or a right may be exercised.

A secondary outgrowth or subdivision of a main axis, such as the tine of a deer's antlers.

A professional sports team.

(Anatomy) An offshoot or a division of the main portion of a structure, especially that of a nerve, blood vessel, or lymphatic vessel; a ramus.

To grant a franchise to.

An area of specialized skill or knowledge, especially academic or vocational, that is related to but separate from other areas

The right to vote at a public election or referendum; see: suffrage, suffragette.

A division of a business or other organization.

A right or privilege officially granted to a person, a group of people, or a company by a government.

A division of a family, categorized by descent from a particular ancestor.

An acknowledgment of a corporation's existence and ownership.

(Linguistics) A subdivision of a family of languages, such as the Germanic branch of Indo-European.

The authorization granted by a company to sell or distribute its goods or services in a certain area.

A tributary of a river.

A business operating under such authorization, a franchisee.

Chiefly Southern US See creek. See Note at run.

A legal exemption from jurisdiction.

A divergent section of a river, especially near the mouth.

The membership of a corporation or state; citizenship.

(Mathematics) A part of a curve that is separated, as by discontinuities or extreme points.

The district or jurisdiction to which a particular privilege extends; the limits of an immunity; hence, an asylum or sanctuary.

A sequence of program instructions to which the normal sequence of instructions relinquishes control, depending on the value of certain variables.

(sports) The collection of organizations in the history of a sports team; the tradition of a sports team as an entity, extending beyond the contemporary organization.

The instructions executed as the result of such a passing of control.

The positive influence on the buying behavior of customers exerted by the reputation of a company or a brand.

(Chemistry) A bifurcation in a linear chain of atoms, especially in an organic molecule where isomeric hydrocarbon groups can vary in the location and number of these bifurcations of the carbon chain.

The loose collection of fictional works pertaining to a particular fictional universe, including literary, film, or television series from various sources, generally when all authorized by a copyright holder or similar authority.

To put forth a branch or branches; spread by dividing.

Exemption from constraint or oppression; freedom; liberty.

To come forth as a branch or subdivision; develop or diverge from

(obsolete) Magnanimity; generosity; liberality; frankness; nobility.

(Computers) To relinquish control to another set of instructions or another routine as a result of the presence of a branch.

(transitive) To confer certain powers on; grant a franchise to; authorize.

To separate (something) into branches.

To set free; invest with a franchise or privilege; enfranchise.

To embroider (something) with a design of foliage or flowers.

Exemption from constraint or oppression; freedom; liberty.

The woody part of a tree arising from the trunk and usually dividing.

A particular privilege conferred by grant from a sovereign or a government, and vested in individuals; an immunity or exemption from ordinary jurisdiction; a constitutional or statutory right or privilege, esp. the right to vote.

Any of the parts of something that divides like the branch of a tree.

The district or jurisdiction to which a particular privilege extends; the limits of an immunity; hence, an asylum or sanctuary.

A creek or stream which flows into a larger river.

Magnanimity; generosity; liberality; frankness; nobility.

(geometry) One of the portions of a curve that extends outwards to an indefinitely great distance.

To make free; to enfranchise; to give liberty to.

A location of an organization with several locations.

An authorization to sell a company's goods or services in a particular place

A line of family descent, in distinction from some other line or lines from the same stock; any descendant in such a line.

A business established or operated under an authorization to sell or distribute a company's goods or services in a particular area

(Mormonism) A local congregation of the LDS Church that is not large enough to form a ward; see Wikipedia article on ward in LDS church.

A statutory right or privilege granted to a person or group by a government (especially the rights of citizenship and the right to vote)

An area in business or of knowledge, research.

Grant a franchise to

(nautical) A certificate given by Trinity House to a pilot qualified to take navigational control of a ship in British waters.

(computing) A sequence of code that is conditionally executed.

(computing) A group of related files in a source control system, including for example source code, build scripts, and media such as images.

(rail transport) A branch line.

(intransitive) To arise from the trunk or a larger branch of a tree.

(intransitive) To produce branches.

(ambitransitive) To (cause to) divide into separate parts or subdivisions.

To jump to a different location in a program, especially as the result of a conditional statement.

(transitive) To strip of branches.

To discipline (a union member) at a branch meeting.

A shoot or secondary stem growing from the main stem, or from a principal limb or bough of a tree or other plant.

Any division extending like a branch; any arm or part connected with the main body of thing; ramification; as, the branch of an antler; the branch of a chandelier; a branch of a river; a branch of a railway.

Any member or part of a body or system; a distinct article; a section or subdivision; a department.

One of the portions of a curve that extends outwards to an indefinitely great distance; as, the branches of an hyperbola.

A line of family descent, in distinction from some other line or lines from the same stock; any descendant in such a line; as, the English branch of a family.

A warrant or commission given to a pilot, authorizing him to pilot vessels in certain waters.

Diverging from, or tributary to, a main stock, line, way, theme, etc.; as, a branch vein; a branch road or line; a branch topic; a branch store.

To shoot or spread in branches; to separate into branches; to ramify.

To divide into separate parts or subdivision.

To divide as into branches; to make subordinate division in.

To adorn with needlework representing branches, flowers, or twigs.

An administrative division of some larger or more complex organization;

A division of a stem, or secondary stem arising from the main stem of a plant

A part of a forked or branching shape;

A natural consequence of development

A stream or river connected to a larger one

Any projection that is thought to resemble an arm;

Grow and send out branches or branch-like structures;

Divide into two or more branches so as to form a fork;