Meaning

noun United States historian noted for studies of Black American history (born in 1915)

noun printer whose success as an author led him to take up politics; he helped draw up the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution; he played a major role in the American Revolution and negotiated

noun a landowner (14th and 15th centuries) who was free but not of noble birth

originFrom Middle English frankelein (“freeholder”), from Anglo-Norman fraunclein (“a landowner of free, but not noble birth”), from Old French fraunc (“free”), from Frankish *Frankō (“Frank”, literally “freeman”) + Old French -lein (“-ling”), from Frankish *-ling (“-ling”). More at frank, -ling.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0