franklin

Everyday

1. (a name) Franklin is a first name and a family name, as in Benjamin Franklin, one of the founders of the United States, and Franklin the Turtle in children's books. tree →
2. (history) In old England, a franklin was a free man who owned land but was not a lord or a knight. tree →

In the lessons

In lessons the word is almost always a name: Benjamin Franklin is famous for his kite experiment with lightning, for inventing bifocal glasses and the lightning rod, and for helping write the Declaration of Independence; his face is on the US hundred-dollar bill. Franklin is also a place name (many US towns) and a character in picture books. In history lessons about the Middle Ages, a franklin is one of the people in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Phrases: «Benjamin Franklin», «Franklin the Turtle», «the Franklin expedition» (a lost voyage to the Arctic).

Examples

• Benjamin Franklin flew a kite in a storm to learn about electricity. tree →
• Franklin helped write the Declaration of Independence. tree →
• My little brother loves the Franklin the Turtle books. tree →
• There is a picture of Franklin on the hundred-dollar bill. tree →
• We drove through a small town called Franklin. tree →
• In Chaucer's story, the franklin loves good food and wine. tree →
• Franklin invented the lightning rod to protect houses. tree →

Note

Written with a capital F when it is a name. As an old word for a free landowner (small f) it is rare and only met in history. Do not invent facts about a person called Franklin in a story: read what the text says. Benjamin Franklin did not "discover" electricity; he showed that lightning is electricity.