What does imprisonment mean?

Definitions for imprisonment
im·pris·on·ment

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word imprisonment.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. imprisonmentnoun

    putting someone in prison or in jail as lawful punishment

  2. captivity, imprisonment, incarceration, immurementnoun

    the state of being imprisoned

    "he was held in captivity until he died"; "the imprisonment of captured soldiers"; "his ignominious incarceration in the local jail"; "he practiced the immurement of his enemies in the castle dungeon"

  3. imprisonment, internmentnoun

    the act of confining someone in a prison (or as if in a prison)

Wiktionary

  1. imprisonmentnoun

    A confinement in a place, especially a prison.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. Imprisonmentnoun

    Confinement; clausure; state of being shut in prison. It may be written emprisonment.

    Etymology: emprisonnement, Fr. from imprison.

    His sinews waxen weak and raw,
    Through long imprisonment and hard constraint. F. Queen.

    Which shall I first bewail,
    Thy bondage or lost sight,
    Thou art become, O worst imprisonment!
    The dungeon of thyself. John Milton, Agonistes.

    From retentive cage
    When sullen Philomel escapes, her notes
    She varies, and of past imprisonment
    Sweetly complains. Phillips.

    Count Serini, still close prisoner in this castle, lost his senses by his long imprisonment and afflictions. Addison.

    It is well if they don't fix the brand of heresy on the man who is leading them out of their long imprisonment, and looseing the fetters of their souls. Isaac Watts, Impr. of the Mind.

Wikipedia

  1. Imprisonment

    Imprisonment is the restraint of a person's liberty, for any cause whatsoever, whether by authority of the government, or by a person acting without such authority. In the latter case it is "false imprisonment". Imprisonment does not necessarily imply a place of confinement, with bolts and bars, but may be exercised by any use or display of force (such as placing one in handcuffs), lawfully or unlawfully, wherever displayed, even in the open street. People become prisoners, wherever they may be, by the mere word or touch of a duly authorized officer directed to that end. Usually, however, imprisonment is understood to imply an actual confinement in a jail or prison employed for the purpose according to the provisions of the law.Sometimes gender imbalances occur in imprisonment rates, with incarceration of males proportionately more likely than incarceration of females.

ChatGPT

  1. imprisonment

    Imprisonment is a legal punishment or penalty wherein an individual is confined or detained in a structured setting such as a prison or jail. This often occurs as a result of the individual being convicted of a crime. The duration of the imprisonment can depend on the nature and severity of the offense committed. It might also include conditions like parole and probation.

Military Dictionary and Gazetteer

  1. imprisonment

    Officers may be sentenced to imprisonment by a general court-martial in any case where the court may have discretionary authority. General, garrison, and regimental courts-martial may sentence soldiers to imprisonment, solitary or otherwise, with or without hard labor, for various offenses enumerated in the Articles of War. A garrison or regimental court-martial, in awarding imprisonment, is limited to a period not exceeding thirty days. When a court awards solitary imprisonment as a punishment, it is necessary that the words “solitary confinement” should be expressed in the sentence. The legal imprisonment in the United States is confinement, solitary confinement, and confinement on bread and water; confinement on bread and water shall not extend over fourteen days at a time, with intervals between the periods of such confinement not less than such periods, and not exceeding eighty-four days in any one year.

Matched Categories

British National Corpus

  1. Nouns Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'imprisonment' in Nouns Frequency: #2319

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

How to pronounce imprisonment?

How to say imprisonment in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of imprisonment in Chaldean Numerology is: 4

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of imprisonment in Pythagorean Numerology is: 3

Examples of imprisonment in a Sentence

  1. Sam Rainsy:

    Substantially all of Cambodia’s media is now government controlled, it also occurs in the context of [the] ongoing wrongful imprisonment of opposition supporters and routine intimidation of those who continue to operate.

  2. Russ Fulcher:

    The barbaric imprisonment and execution of the courageous pro-democracy activists must finally end.

  3. Justice Michael Code:

    I am satisfied that life imprisonment is the appropriate sentences for both counts one and two.

  4. Janet Lyness:

    They couldn't give me assurances, (But) I think life imprisonment is the most likely option.

  5. Deputy Interior Minister Roberto Campa:

    I hope that what follows allows many alternative mechanisms to imprisonment to be found, because experience shows that someone who goes to jail for something minor ends up back there after being let out - a sort of revolving door.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

imprisonment#10000#13920#100000

Translations for imprisonment

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"imprisonment." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 9 Oct. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/imprisonment>.

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