prison

English

This entry needs quotations to illustrate usage. If you come across any interesting, durably archived quotes then please add them!

English Wikipedia has an article on:

prison

Wikipedia

Etymology

From Middle English prisoun, prison, a borrowing from Old French prison, from Latin prehensiōnem, accusative singular of prehensiō, from the verb prehendō. Doublet of prehension.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɹɪzən/, [pʰɹ̠̊ɪzn̩]

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪzən

Noun

prison (countable and uncountable, plural prisons)

2. A place or institution where people are held against their will, in the US especially for long-term confinement, as of those convicted of serious crimes or otherwise considered undesirable by the government.

   Synonyms: bridewell, big house; see also Thesaurus:prison

   Hypernyms: correctional facility, correctional institution

   Hyponyms: panopticon, dungeon

   Coordinate terms: gaol, jail, slammer, hoosegow

   The cold stone walls of the prison had stood for over a century.

3. (uncountable) Confinement in prison.

   Synonym: imprisonment

   Prison was a harrowing experience for him.

4. (colloquial, figurative) Any restrictive environment, such as a harsh academy or home.

   The academy was a prison for many of its students because of its strict teachers.

Derived terms

• debtors' prison
• dispersal prison
• imprison
• in prison
• military prison
• open prison
• passport prison
• post prison
• Prislam
• prison bars
• prison base
• prison bitch
• prison-bound
• prison break
• prison camp
• prison cell
• prison chaser
• prisoner
• prison farm
• prison fever
• prison gay
• prison governor
• prison guard
• prisonhouse
• prison house
• prison-industrial complex
• prison labor
• prison officer
• prison pocket
• prison psychosis
• prison purse
• prison record
• prison ring
• prison sentence
• prison state
• prison wall
• prison wallet
• prison warden
• prison wife
• prison wine

 

Translations

place of long-term confinement for those convicted of serious crimes

Abkhaz: абахҭа (abaxta) Adzera: karabus Afrikaans: tronk (af), gevangenis (af) Albanian: burg (sq) m Amharic: ከርቼሌ (kärčele), ዘብጥያ (zäbṭəya) Arabic: سِجْن (ar) m (sijn) Egyptian Arabic: سجن m (sign) Hijazi Arabic: سِجِن m (sijin) Moroccan Arabic: حبْس m (ḥəbs) South Levantine Arabic: سِجِن m (síjen) Aramaic: ܚܒܘܫܝܐ Armenian: բանտ (hy) (bant) Aromanian: ncljisoari f, hapsi, hãpsani, filichii, zundani, pudrumi Asturian: cárcel f, prisión f Avar: турма (turma) Azerbaijani: türmə, həbsxana Bashkir: төрмә (törmə) Basque: espetxe Belarusian: турма́ f (turmá), цямні́ца f (cjamníca), астро́г m (astróh) Bengali: কারাগার (bn) (karagar) Breton: prizon (br) m Bulgarian: затво́р (bg) m (zatvór), дранго́лник (bg) m (drangólnik), тъмни́ца (bg) f (tǎmníca), тюрма́ (bg) f (tjurmá), занда́н (bg) m (zandán) Burmese: အကျဉ်းထောင် (my) (a.kyany:htaung), ထောင် (my) (htaung) Catalan: presó (ca) f, càrcer (ca) m, presidi m Cebuano: bilanggoan, prisohan Chechen: набахти (nabaxti) Cherokee: ᏗᏓᏍᏚᏗ (didasdudi) Chinese: Cantonese: 監獄 / 监狱 (gaam1 juk6), 牢獄 / 牢狱 (lou4 juk6), 監牢 / 监牢 (gaam1 lou4) Dungan: йүҗян (yüži͡an), банфонзы (banfonzɨ) Hakka: 監獄 / 监狱 (kâm-ngiu̍k), 監牢 / 监牢 (kâm-lò), 囹仔 (lông-é) Hokkien: 監牢 / 监牢 (kaⁿ-lô), 監獄 / 监狱 (zh-min-nan) (kaⁿ-ga̍k), 櫳仔 / 栊仔 (lông-á), 櫳仔內 / 栊仔内 (lông-á-lāi) Mandarin: 監獄 / 监狱 (zh) (jiānyù), 牢獄 / 牢狱 (zh) (láoyù), 監牢 / 监牢 (zh) (jiānláo), 班房 (zh) (bānfáng) Wu: 監獄 / 监狱 (1ke-gnioq) Coptic: ϣⲧⲉⲕⲟ m (šteko), ⲕⲉⲣⲟⲩⲥⲓⲁ f (kerousia) Cornish: prison m Corsican: prigione, prigiò, prighjò, carcere, carcera Czech: vězení (cs) n, žalář (cs) m, věznice (cs) f Danish: fængsel (da) n Dutch: gevangenis (nl) f, kerker (nl) m Emilian: please add this translation if you can Esperanto: malliberejo (eo), prizono (eo) Estonian: vangla (et) Farefare: yʋ'a deem Faroese: fongsul n, fangahús n, gegl n Finnish: vankila (fi), tyrmä (fi) French: prison (fr) f, (slang) cabane (fr) f, geôle (fr) f, pénitencier (fr) m Old French: prison f Friulian: please add this translation if you can Galician: prisión f, cárcere (gl) m, cadea (gl) f, trenla (gl) f Georgian: ციხე (ka) (cixe), საპატიმრო (saṗaṭimro) German: Gefängnis (de) n, Knast (de) m (colloquial), Kerker (de) m (slang), Zuchthaus (de) n (dated) Greek: φυλακή (el) f (fylakí), δεσμωτήριο (el) n (desmotírio) Ancient: δεσμωτήριον n (desmōtḗrion), εἱρκτή f (heirktḗ) Greenlandic: parnaarussivik Gujarati: તુરંગ (turaṅg) Hebrew: כֶּלֶא (he) m (kéle), בֵּית כֶּלֶא (he) m (bet kéle), בֵּית סֹהַר (he) m (bet sóhar), בֵּית הָאֲסוּרִים m (bet ha'asurím) Hiligaynon: bilanggoan Hindi: कारागार (hi) m (kārāgār), बन्दीघर (hi) m (bandīghar), जेल (hi) m (jel), क़ैदख़ाना m (qaidxānā) Hungarian: börtön (hu) Icelandic: fangelsi (is) n Ido: karcero (io) Ilocano: pagbaludan Indonesian: penjara (id), bui (id) Ingrian: tyrmä Irish: príosún (ga) m, carcair f Italian: prigione (it) f, carcere (it) m, fresco (it) m Japanese: 監獄 (ja) (かんごく, kangoku), 刑務所 (ja) (けいむしょ, keimusho), 牢屋 (ja) (ろうや, rōya), 牢 (ja) (ろう, rō) Jarai: sang krư̆, sang mơnă Kannada: ಜೈಲು (kn) (jailu) Kazakh: түрме (türme), абақты (abaqty) Khmer: គុក (km) (kuk), ពន្ធនាគារ (km) (pŏəntɔniəkiə) Kituba: boloko Korean: 교도소(矯導所) (ko) (gyodoso), 교화소(敎化所) (ko) (gyohwaso) (North Korea), 감옥(監獄) (ko) (gamok), 형무소(刑務所) (hyeongmuso) Kurdish: Central Kurdish: بەندیخانە (bendîxane), گرتوخانە (girtuxane), زندان (zindan) Northern Kurdish: girtîgeh (ku) f, zindan (ku) Kyrgyz: түрмө (ky) (türmö), абак (ky) (abak) Lao: ຄຸກ (lo) (khuk), ເຮືອນຈຳກາງ (hư̄an cham kāng), ພັນທະນາຄານ (phan tha nā khān), ຕະລາງ (ta lāng), ໂຮງຣາຊທັນ (hōng rāt than) Latin: carcer m Latvian: cietums m Ligurian: prexon f Lithuanian: kalėjimas m Livonian: vizākuodā Lombard: presón m Luxembourgish: Prisong (lb) m Macedonian: затвор (mk) m (zatvor), зандана f (zandana) Malay: penjara (ms) Malayalam: കാരാഗൃഹം (ml) (kārāgr̥haṁ), ജയില് (jayilŭ), തുറുങ്ക് (ml) (tuṟuṅkŭ) Maltese: ħabs m Manx: pryssoon Maori: whare herehere Marathi: तुरुंग (mr) (turuṅga) Mongolian: Cyrillic: шорон (mn) (šoron), гяндан (mn) (gjandan), хар гэр (xar ger) Moore: bãens-roogo, bi-bees roogo Navajo: awáalya Neapolitan: please add this translation if you can Nepali: थाना (thānā) Northern Sami: fáŋgal, ladni Norwegian: Bokmål: fengsel (no) n Nynorsk: fengsel n Occitan: preson (oc) f, càrcer (oc) m Ojibwe: gibaakwa'odiiwigamig Okinawan: 監獄 (かんぐく, kanguku), 牢屋 (るーや, rūya), 牢 (るー, rū) Old Church Slavonic: Cyrillic: тьмьница f (tĭmĭnica), острогъ m (ostrogŭ) Old East Slavic: тюрма f (tjurma), тьмьница f (tĭmĭnica), острогъ m (ostrogŭ) Old English: cweartern n, carcern n Oromo: mana hidhaa Ossetian: ахӕстон (axæston) Ottoman Turkish: طومروق (tomruk) (figuratively), حبسخانه (hapshane, hapishane), زندان (zından, zindan) Pannonian Rusyn: гарешт m (harešt), цемнїца f (cemnjica) Pashto: زندان (ps) m (zendān), اړتون (ps) m (aṛtun), بنديخانه f (bandixāna), جېل (ps) m (jel), جېلخانه f (jelxāna), قيدخانه (ps) f (qaydxāna), محبس m (mahbas) Persian: Dari: زِنْدَان (zindān) Iranian Persian: زِنْدان (zendân) Piedmontese: përzon f Plautdietsch: Kjarkja m, Jefenkjniss n Polish: więzienie (pl) n, pierdel (pl) m (colloquial) Portuguese: prisão (pt) f, cadeia (pt) f, cárcere (pt) m, xadrez (pt) m (slang, Brazil), xilindró (pt) m (colloquial, Brazil) Punjabi: Gurmukhi: ਜੇਲ੍ਹ f (jelh), ਬੰਦੀਖਾਨਾ m (bandīkhānā), ਬੰਦੀਖ਼ਾਨਾ m (bandīxānā), ਕੈਦਖਾਨਾ m (kaidkhānā), ਕੈਦਖ਼ਾਨਾ m (kaidxānā) Quechua: laqha wasi Romagnol: parṣôn f Romanian: închisoare (ro), pușcărie (ro), temniță (ro) Romansch: praschun f Russian: тюрьма́ (ru) f (tjurʹmá), темни́ца (ru) f (temníca) (dated), остро́г (ru) m (ostróg) (dated), куту́зка (ru) f (kutúzka) (slang), катала́жка (ru) f (katalážka) (slang), тюря́га (ru) f (tjurjága) (slang), зо́на (ru) f (zóna) (slang), казема́т (ru) m (kazemát) (dated, low colloquial) Sanskrit: कारागृह (sa) n (kārāgṛha), कारागार (sa) n (kārāgāra) Scots: preeson Scottish Gaelic: prìosan m Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: за́твор m, та̀мница f Roman: zátvor (sh) m, tàmnica (sh) m Sinhalese: සිරගෙදර (siragedara) Slovak: väznica (sk) f, väzenie n, žalár (sk) m Slovene: zapor (sl) m, ječa f Sorbian: Lower Sorbian: popajźeństwo n Upper Sorbian: jastwo Southern Altai: тӱрме (türme) Spanish: cárcel (es) f, prisión (es) f, penitenciaría (es) f, chirona (es) f (colloquial), trullo (es) (colloquial), talego (es) (Spain, colloquial), presidio (es) m Svan: დჷლიგ (dəlig) Swahili: jela (sw), gereza (sw) class 5/6 Swedish: fängelse (sv) n Tagalog: bilangguan, piitan Tajik: зиндон (tg) (zindon) Tamil: சிறை (ta) (ciṟai), சிறைச்சாலை (ta) (ciṟaiccālai) Tatar: төрмә (tt) (törmä) Telugu: జైలు (te) (jailu), కారాగారం (te) (kārāgāraṁ) Thai: คุก (th) (kúk), กรงขัง (th) (grong-kǎng), เรือนจำ (th) (rʉʉan-jam), พันธนาคาร (pan-tá-naa-kaan), ทัณฑสถาน (th) (tan-tá-sà-tǎan) Tibetan: བཙོན་ཁང (btson khang) Tigrinya: ቤት ማእሰርቲ (bet maʾsärti) Tocharian B: prautke Tok Pisin: kalabus Turkish: hapis (tr), hapishane (tr), cezaevi (tr) Turkmen: türme Tuvan: кара-бажың (kara-bajıñ) Ukrainian: в'язни́ця (uk) f (vʺjaznýcja), тюрма́ (uk) f (tjurmá), темни́ця f (temnýcja), остро́г (uk) m (ostróh) Urdu: زِنْدان m (zindān), قَید خانَہ m (qaid xāna), جیل m (jel) Uyghur: تۈرمە (türme), قاماقخانا (qamaqxana) Uzbek: turma (uz), qamoqxona (uz) Venetan: presón f Vietnamese: tù (vi), nhà tù (vi) Volapük: fanäböp (vo) Walloon: prijhon (wa) m or f Welsh: carchar (cy) m West Frisian: finzenis Yiddish: טורמע f (turme), תּפֿיסה f (tfise) Yonaguni: 牢屋 (どぅや, duya) Zhuang: banfuengz, gam, lauz, fuengz

confinement in a prison

Bashkir: төрмә (törmə) Czech: věznění n, uvěznění n Danish: fængsling c, indespærring c, fængselsstraf (da) c, frihedsstraf c (formal), hæfte n (up to six months in an open prison), hæftestraf (da) c (up to six months in an open prison) Finnish: vankeus (fi), vankeusrangaistus (fi) French: prison (fr) f German: Haft (de) f, Gefangenschaft (de) f Greek: φυλάκιση (el) f (fylákisi), κάθειρξη (el) f (kátheirxi) Ido: karcero (io) Italian: prigione (it) f, carcere (it) m Norwegian: Bokmål: fengsel (no) n Polish: więzienie (pl) n Portuguese: cárcere (pt) m Russian: тюре́мное заключе́ние n (tjurémnoje zaključénije), заточе́ние в тюрьму́ n (zatočénije v tjurʹmú), тюрьма́ (ru) f (tjurʹmá), срок (ru) m (srok) Slovak: uväznenie n, väznenie n Sorbian: Lower Sorbian: popajźeństwo n Spanish: prisión (es) f, presidio (es) m Volapük: fanäbam (vo)

Verb

prison (third-person singular simple present prisons, present participle prisoning, simple past and past participle prisoned)

1. (transitive) To imprison.

Translations

imprison — see imprison

Further reading

• “prison”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• porins, prions, proins, ripons, spinor

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French prison, inherited from Latin prehēnsiōnem, from prehendō. Doublet of préhension.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pʁi.zɔ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

prison f (plural prisons)

1. prison

   Synonyms: emprisonnement, taule, geôle, enclos

Derived terms

• aimable comme une porte de prison
• emprisonner
• prison dorée
• prisonnier

Further reading

• “prison”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• prions, ripons

Haitian Creole

Etymology

From French prison (“prison”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɣisɔ̃/

Noun

prison

1. prison

Norman

Etymology

From Old French prison, from Latin prehensiō, prehensiōnem (“seizing, apprehending, arresting, capturing”).

Noun

prison f (plural prisons)

1. (Jersey) prison

Related terms

• emprisonner, mettre en prison (“to imprison”)

Old French

Alternative forms

• prisoun (less common)
• prisun (less common)

Etymology

From Latin prehensiō, prehensiōnem, from prehendō.

Noun

prison oblique singular, f (oblique plural prisons, nominative singular prison, nominative plural prisons)

1. prison
   • c. 1200, Aucassin et Nicolette:

     Por vos sui en prison mis
     dans ce celier sousterin

     For you, I have been put in this prison
     in this underground cellar

Noun

prison oblique singular, m (oblique plural prisons, nominative singular prisons, nominative plural prison)

1. prisoner

Derived terms

• prisonnier

Descendants

• Middle French:
  • French: prison
• Norman: prison (Jersey)
• → Middle English: prisoun, prison, prisun, prisen, pryson, prisone
  • English: prison
  • Scots: preeson
• → Old Galician-Portuguese: prison, priiom, prijon
  • Galician: prisión
  • Portuguese: prisão

Old Galician-Portuguese

Alternative forms

• priiom, prijon

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French prison, from Latin prehēnsiō, from prehendō + -tiō.

Noun

prison f (plural *prisones)

1. prison (place of long-term confinement)

   Synonym: cadea

Descendants

• Galician: prisión
• Portuguese: prisão

References

• Manuel Ferreiro (2014–2024) “prison”, in Universo Cantigas. Edición crítica da poesía medieval galego-portuguesa (in Galician), A Coruña: UDC, →ISSN
• Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “prison”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “prison”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: ILG