What does prison mean?
Definitions for prison
ˈprɪz ənprison
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word prison.
Princeton's WordNet
prison, prison housenoun
a correctional institution where persons are confined while on trial or for punishment
prison, prison housenoun
a prisonlike situation; a place of seeming confinement
Wiktionary
prisonnoun
A place of long-term confinement for 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.
prisonnoun
Confinement in a prison.
Prison was a harrowing experience for him.
prisonnoun
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.
prisonverb
to imprison
Etymology: From prison, from prehensionem, accusative singular of prehensio, from prehendo
Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
PRISONnoun
A strong hold in which persons are confined; a gaol.
Etymology: prison, Fr.
He hath commission
To hang Cordelia in the prison. William Shakespeare, King Lear.For those rebellious here their pris’n ordain’d. John Milton.
I thought our utmost good
Was in one word of freedom understood,
The fatal blessing came; from prison free,
I starve abroad, and lose the sight of Emily. Dryden.Unkind! can you, whom only I adore,
Set open to your slave the prison door. Dryden.The tyrant Æolus,
With pow’r imperial, curbs the struggling winds,
And sounding tempests in dark prisons binds. Dryden.He, that has his chains knocked off, and the prison doors
set open to him, is presently at liberty. John Locke.To Prisonverb
Etymology: from the noun.
Culling their potent herbs and baleful drugs,
They, as they sung, would take the prison’d soul,
And lap it in Elysium. John Milton.Universal plodding prisons up
The nimble spirits in the arteries. William Shakespeare.Then did the king enlarge
The spleen he prison’d. George Chapman, Iliads.
Wikipedia
Prison
A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, British English, Australian, South African and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correctional facility, lock-up, hoosegow or remand center, is a facility in which inmates (or prisoners) are confined against their will and usually denied a variety of freedoms under the authority of the state as punishment for various crimes. Prisons are most commonly used within a criminal justice system: people charged with crimes may be imprisoned until their trial; those pleading or being found guilty of crimes at trial may be sentenced to a specified period of imprisonment. In simplest terms, a prison can also be described as a building in which people are legally held as a punishment for a crime they have committed. Prisons can also be used as a tool of political repression by authoritarian regimes. Their perceived opponents may be imprisoned for political crimes, often without trial or other legal due process; this use is illegal under most forms of international law governing fair administration of justice. In times of war, prisoners of war or detainees may be detained in military prisons or prisoner of war camps, and large groups of civilians might be imprisoned in internment camps. In American English, the terms prison and jail have separate definitions, though this is not always strictly adhered to in casual speech. A prison or penitentiary holds people for longer periods of time, such as many years, and is operated by a state or federal government. A jail holds people for shorter periods of time (e.g. for shorter sentences or pre-trial detention) and is usually operated by a local government, typically the county sheriff. Outside of North America, prison and jail often have the same meaning.
ChatGPT
prison
A prison is a secure and confined place or institution where individuals who have been convicted of crimes are detained as part of their punishment. This penal institution is typically operated by the government and includes a regime to rehabilitate inmates, maintain discipline, and ensure public safety. Prisons can also refer to any place of confinement or involuntary restraint.
Webster Dictionary
Prisonnoun
a place where persons are confined, or restrained of personal liberty; hence, a place or state o/ confinement, restraint, or safe custody
Prisonnoun
specifically, a building for the safe custody or confinement of criminals and others committed by lawful authority
Prisonverb
to imprison; to shut up in, or as in, a prison; to confine; to restrain from liberty
Prisonverb
to bind (together); to enchain
Etymology: [F., fr. L. prehensio, prensio, a seizing, arresting, fr. prehendre, prendere, to lay hold of, to seize. See Prehensile, and cf. Prize, n., Misprision.]
Wikidata
Prison
A prison, also known as gaol or jail, is a place in which people are physically confined and usually deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime. Other terms used are penitentiary, correctional facility, remand centre, detention centre, and gaol or jail. In some legal systems some of these terms have distinct meanings. A criminal suspect who has been charged with or is likely to be charged with criminal offense or Offence may be held on remand in prison if he or she is denied or unable to meet conditions of bail, or is unable or unwilling to post bail. A criminal defendant may also be held in prison while awaiting trial or a trial verdict. If found guilty, a defendant will be convicted and may receive a custodial sentence requiring imprisonment. As well as convicted or suspected criminals, prisons may be used for internment of those not charged with a crime. Prisons may also be used as a tool of political repression to detain political prisoners, prisoners of conscience, and "enemies of the state", particularly by authoritarian regimes. In times of war or conflict, prisoners of war may also be detained in prisons. A prison system is the organizational arrangement of the provision and operation of prisons.
Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
Prison
priz′n, n. a building for the confinement of criminals, &c.: a jail: any place of confinement.—v.t. to shut in prison, restrain.—n.pl. Pris′on-bars, whatever confines or restrains.—ns. Pris′oner, one arrested or confined in prison: a captive; Pris′oner's-, Pris′on-base, a game among boys, in which those who are caught in a certain way are confined as prisoners—a corr. of prison-bars; Pris′on-fē′ver, typhus-fever; Pris′on-house, place of confinement; Pris′onment (Shak.), confinement in a prison—usually imprisonment; Pris′on-ship; Pris′on-van, a closed conveyance for carrying prisoners.—State prisoner, one confined for a political offence in a state prison. [Fr.,—L. prensio, -onis, for prehensio, a seizing—prehendĕre, -hensum, to seize.]
The Roycroft Dictionary
prison
1. A place where any lady may have a baby without fearing society. 2. An institution where even crooks go wrong. 3. The House of a Thousand Tears. 4. The last resort of the obscure to achieve fame. 5. A banker's mess-hall. 6. A place where men go to take the vow of chastity, poverty and obedience. 7. An example of a Socialist's Paradise, where equality prevails, everything is supplied, and competition is eliminated.
Suggested Resources
prison
The prison symbol -- In this Symbols.com article you will learn about the meaning of the prison symbol and its characteristic.
Matched Categories
British National Corpus
Spoken Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'prison' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #1611
Written Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'prison' in Written Corpus Frequency: #2483
Nouns Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'prison' in Nouns Frequency: #638
Anagrams for prison »
porins
prions
spinor
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of prison in Chaldean Numerology is: 8
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of prison in Pythagorean Numerology is: 1
Examples of prison in a Sentence
These are people that have to be in institutions for help -- I'm not talking about as a form of a prison, I'm saying for help -- and I think it's something we have to really look at, the whole concept of mental institutions, i remember growing up we had mental institutions, then they were closed -- in New York, I'm talking about -- they were, many of them, closed. A lot of them were closed and all of those people were put out on the street.
The facility at Oakden was like something out of the 19th century, bob was lying on a bed with just a sheet underneath him, there was no seat on the toilet, only paper towels in the bathroom. It was like a prison.
At the beginning, ISIS told us we would all go to heaven, but now that I am in prison it means I am going to the fire. I am going to hell.
We are worried about this situation where basically, with something which is very unclear, people can be just locked up and go back to prison.
We need to all speak out for these Americans, because every single one of us is an American, every day that you’re in prison there, it’s like you’re waking up to a nightmare. There is no justice in Russia. Brittney and Paul will not receive justice in Russia... They will not receive a fair trial in Russia.
Popularity rank by frequency of use
References
Translations for prison
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- tronk, gevangenisAfrikaans
- سجن, السجنArabic
- həbsxana, zindanAzerbaijani
- төрмәBashkir
- цямні́ца, астро́г, турма́Belarusian
- тъмни́ца, тюрма́, дранго́лник, занда́н, затво́рBulgarian
- কারাগারBengali
- བཙོན་ཁངTibetan Standard
- presóCatalan, Valencian
- vězení, žalář, vězněníCzech
- carcharWelsh
- fængslet, fængselDanish
- Zuchthaus, Kerker, Haft, Gefangenschaft, GefängnisGerman
- κάθειρξη, φυλακή, φυλάκιση, δεσμωτήριοGreek
- malliberejoEsperanto
- cárcel, prisión, penitenciaríaSpanish
- türmEstonian
- espetxeBasque
- زندانPersian
- vankeus, vankeusrangaistus, vankilaFinnish
- fongsul, fangahús, geglFaroese
- geôle, prison, cabaneFrench
- finzenisWestern Frisian
- príosúnIrish
- cárcere, prisión, cadeaGalician
- તુરંગGujarati
- כלאHebrew
- जेल, क़ैदख़ाना, कारागार, बन्दीघरHindi
- börtönHungarian
- բանտArmenian
- penjaraIndonesian
- karceroIdo
- fangelsiIcelandic
- prigione, carcereItalian
- בית כלאHebrew
- 監獄, 刑務所Japanese
- საპატიმრო, ციხეGeorgian
- абақты, түрмеKazakh
- ពន្ធនាគារ, គុកKhmer
- ಜೈಲುKannada
- 교도소Korean
- گرتوخانه, زندان, بهندیخانهKurdish
- түрмө, абакKyrgyz
- carcerLatin
- PrisongLuxembourgish, Letzeburgesch
- ຄຸກLao
- kalėjimasLithuanian
- cietumsLatvian
- whare herehereMāori
- за́творMacedonian
- шорон, гяндан, хар гэрMongolian
- तुरुंगMarathi
- penjaraMalay
- ħabsMaltese
- ထောင်, အကျဥ်းထောင်Burmese
- थानाNepali
- gevangenisDutch
- fengselNorwegian
- awáalyaNavajo, Navaho
- ахӕстонOssetian, Ossetic
- więzieniePolish
- prisão, cadeia, xadrezPortuguese
- temniță, închisoare, pușcărieRomanian
- тюрьма́, тюря́га, темни́ца, остро́г, катала́жка, куту́зкаRussian
- zatvor, тамница, tamnica, затворSerbo-Croatian
- සිරගෙදරSinhala, Sinhalese
- žalár, väznica, väzenieSlovak
- ječa, zaporSlovene
- burgAlbanian
- fängelseSwedish
- jelaSwahili
- சிறைச்சாலை, சிறைTamil
- జైలు, కారాగారంTelugu
- зиндонTajik
- คุกThai
- türmeTurkmen
- bilangguanTagalog
- hapis, hapishane, cezaeviTurkish
- төрмәTatar
- в'язни́ця, тюрма́, остро́г, темни́цяUkrainian
- بندیگھر, جیل, قیدخانہ, کاراگارUrdu
- turma, qamoqxonaUzbek
- ngụcVietnamese
- fanäböp, fanäbamVolapük
- טורמעYiddish
- 监狱Chinese
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