prison.
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.
Meaning & usage
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.
The cold stone walls of the prison had stood for over a century.
Confinement in prison (sense 1).
Prison was a harrowing experience for him.
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.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English prisoun, prison, from Old English prisūn, a borrowing from Old French prison, from Latin prehensiōnem, accusative singular of prehensiō, from the verb prehendō. Doublet of prehension.
To imprison.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English prisoun, prison, from Old English prisūn, a borrowing from Old French prison, from Latin prehensiōnem, accusative singular of prehensiō, from the verb prehendō. Doublet of prehension.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.