prison

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

• 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