prison
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English
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
Noun
prison (countable and uncountable, plural prisons)
- 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.
- (uncountable) Confinement in prison.
- Synonym: imprisonment
- Prison was a harrowing experience for him.
- (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
- prison house
- prisonhouse
- prison-industrial complex
- prison labor
- prison officer
- prison pocket
- prison psychosis
- prison purse
- prison record
- prison ring
- prison sentence
- prison state
- prison wallet
- prison warden
- prison wife
- prison wine
Translations
place of long-term confinement for those convicted of serious crimes
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confinement in a prison
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Verb
prison (third-person singular simple present prisons, present participle prisoning, simple past and past participle prisoned)
- (transitive) To imprison.
Translations
imprison — see imprison
Further reading
- “prison”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
Anagrams
French
Etymology
Inherited from Old French prison, inherited from Latin prehēnsiōnem, from prehendō. Doublet of préhension.
Pronunciation
Noun
prison f (plural prisons)
- prison
- Synonyms: emprisonnement, taule, geôle, enclos
Derived terms
Further reading
- “prison”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.
Anagrams
Haitian Creole
Etymology
From French prison (“prison”).
Pronunciation
Noun
prison
Norman
Etymology
From Old French prison, from Latin prehensiō, prehensiōnem (“seizing, apprehending, arresting, capturing”).
Noun
prison f (plural prisons)
Related terms
- emprisonner, mettre en prison (“to imprison”)
Old French
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Latin prehensiō, prehensiōnem, from prehendō.
Noun
prison oblique singular, f (oblique plural prisons, nominative singular prison, nominative plural prisons)
- 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
- For you, I have been put in this prison
Noun
prison oblique singular, m (oblique plural prisons, nominative singular prisons, nominative plural prison)