Why this word is great
MANUMIT — [Verb] To formally release a person from slavery or servitude. From Middle English manumitten, from Latin manūmittere, from manū (ablative of manus, "hand") and ēmittere ("to send out"), literally meaning "to send out from one's hand." Unlike emancipate, which broadens to any liberation from restraint, or liberate, which suggests a collective, often forcible overthrow, to manumit is a starkly personal transaction between owner and owned, a singular legal act that concedes a personhood it should never have denied. It is the crack of a wax seal on a parchment decree, the cold weight of a manacle unlocked, and the sudden, vertiginous warmth of a sun that now shines for you alone—a freedom granted, not taken, forever carrying the shadow of the hand that let go.