ENFILADE

A term used in military language to denote a fire of artillery or musketry in the direction of the enemy's line. A trench or parapet is said to be enfiladed vfhen guns are so placed that the shot can be fired into it in a direction parallel to its length. ENFRANCHISEMENT (Fr. franchise, freedom or right), in Law, is the act of incorporating a person into any society or body politic; as where one is made a citizen or free burge of a town corporate. In feudal usage, a villein was said to be enfranchised when he was made free by his lord; and hence is derived the popular signification of the term. For enfranchisement of land, see Copyhold. [s. 409]