prisoner

English

Etymology

From Middle English prisoner, from Old French prisonier (compare Medieval Latin prisōnārius), equivalent to prison +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpɹɪzənə/, /ˈpɹɪznə/
• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈpɹɪzənɚ/, /ˈpɹɪznɚ/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: pri‧son‧er

Noun

prisoner (plural prisoners)

1. A person incarcerated in a prison, while on trial or serving a sentence.

   Synonym: jailbird

   • 1861, Edward William Cox, Reports of Cases in Criminal Law:

     The evidence disclosed that the three prisoners were in a public-house together with the prosecutor, Abraham Rhodes, and that in concert with the other two prisoners, the prisoner John Dewhirst placed a pencase on the table in the room where they were assembled, and left the room to get writing-paper.

2. Any person held against their will.
   • c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act I, scene ii:

     And gainſt the General we will lift our ſwords / And either lanch his greedie thirſting throat, / Or take him priſoner, and his chaine ſhall ſerue / For Manackles, till he be ranſom’d home.

   • 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

     Captain Edward Carlisle, soldier as he was, martinet as he was, felt a curious sensation of helplessness seize upon him as he met her steady gaze, her alluring smile ; he could not tell what this prisoner might do.

3. A person who is or feels confined or trapped by a situation or a set of circumstances.

   I am no longer a prisoner to fear, for I am a child of God.

Derived terms

• ghost prisoner
• non-prisoner
• political prisoner
• prisoner at large
• prisoner exchange
• prisoner of conscience
• prisoner of hope
• prisoner of war
• prisoner-of-war camp
• prisoner swap
• prisoner visa
• Spanish prisoner
• star prisoner

 

Related terms

• imprison
• prison

Translations

person incarcerated in a prison

• Albanian: i burgosur (sq), i burgosun (sq) (Gheg), rob (sq) m
• Arabic: سَجِين m (sajīn), سَجِينَة f (sajīna), مَحْبُوس m (maḥbūs), مَحْبُوسَة f (maḥbūsa)
• Armenian: բանտարկյալ (hy) (bantarkyal)
• Asturian: presu m, prisioneru m
• Azerbaijani: məhbus (az), əsir (az)
• Belarusian: вя́зень m (vjázjenʹ), зняво́лены m (znjavóljeny), арышта́нт m (aryštánt), арышта́нтка f (aryštántka)
• Bengali: বন্দী (bn) (bondi), জিন্দানবাসী (zindanbaśī)
• Breton: prizoniad (br) m
• Bulgarian: затво́рник (bg) m (zatvórnik), затво́рничка f (zatvórnička), затво́рница f (zatvórnica)
• Burmese: ထောင်သား (my) (htaungsa:)
• Catalan: pres (ca) m, presoner (ca) m
• Cebuano: bilanggo
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 囚犯 (zh) (qiúfàn)

• Czech: vězeň (cs) m, vězeňkyně f
• Danish: fange (da) c
• Dutch: gevangene (nl) m or f
• Egyptian: (ḫnr)
• Esperanto: malliberulo, kaptito, prizonulo
• Estonian: vang (et), karistatu
• Faroese: fangi m
• Finnish: vanki (fi)
• French: prisonnier (fr) m, prisonnière (fr) f
• Galician: preso (gl) m, prisioneiro (gl) m
• Georgian: პატიმარი (ṗaṭimari), ტუსაღი (ṭusaɣi)
• German: Gefangener (de) m, Gefangene (de) f, Häftling (de) m, Strafgefangener (de) m
• Gothic: 𐌱𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌾𐌰 m (bandja)
• Greek: κρατούμενος (el) m (kratoúmenos), φυλακισμένος (el) m (fylakisménos)

  Ancient: δεσμώτης m (desmṓtēs)

• Hebrew: אָסִיר (he) m (asír), אֲסִירָה f (asirá)
• Hiligaynon: bilanggo
• Hindi: बंदी (hi) m (bandī), क़ैदी m (qaidī), बद्धक (hi) m (baddhak)
• Hungarian: rab (hu), fogoly (hu)
• Icelandic: fangi (is) m, bandingi (is) m
• Ilocano: balud
• Indonesian: tahanan (id)
• Irish: cime m, príosúnach m
• Italian: prigioniero (it) m, prigioniera (it) f
• Japanese: 囚人 (ja) (しゅうじん, shūjin), 捕虜 (ja) (ほりょ, horyo) (prisoner of war)
• Jarai: mơnă
• Kazakh: қамалған (qamalğan), қамалушы (qamaluşy), қорытылған (qorytylğan), тұтқын (kk) (tūtqyn)
• Khmer: អ្នកទោស (nĕək tooh), មនុស្សទោស (mɔnuh tooh), ឈ្លើយ (km) (chləəy)
• Korean: 죄수(罪囚) (ko) (joesu), 죄인(罪人) (ko) (joein), 수감자(收監者) (ko) (sugamja), 재소자(在所者) (ko) (jaesoja), 기결수(旣決囚) (ko) (gigyeolsu)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: girtî (ku), zindanî (ku), êsîr (ku), dîl (ku), bendî (ku)

• Kyrgyz: камалуучу (kamaluucu), туткун (ky) (tutkun)
• Lao: ນັກໂທດ (nak thōt), ຊະເລີຍ (sa lœ̄i)
• Latin: captus (la) m
• Latvian: ieslodzītais m, cietumnieks m, gūsteknis m
• Lithuanian: kalinys m
• Luxembourgish: Prisonnéier m, Gefaangenen m
• Macedonian: затвореник m (zatvorenik), затвореничка f (zatvorenička), затвореница f (zatvorenica)
• Malay: banduan (ms)
• Malayalam: തടവുപുള്ളി (taṭavupuḷḷi), തടവുകാരൻ m (taṭavukāraṉ)
• Maltese: priġunier m, maqbud m
• Maori: herehere
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: хоригдол (mn) (xorigdol), хоригдогч (mn) (xorigdogč)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: fange (no) m

• Occitan: presonièr (oc) m
• Old English: rǣpling m
• Old Norse: bandingi m
• Pashto: بندي (ps) m (bandí), اسير (ps) m (asír)
• Persian: زندانی (fa) (zendâni), بندی (fa) (bandi), اسیر (fa) (asir), محبوس (fa) (mahbus)
• Plautdietsch: Jefangna m
• Polish: więzień (pl) m, więźniarka (pl) f
• Portuguese: prisioneiro (pt) m, preso (pt) m
• Romanian: pușcăriaș (ro) m, prizonier (ro) m
• Russian: заключённый (ru) m (zaključónnyj), заключённая (ru) m (zaključónnaja), ареста́нт (ru) m (arestánt), ареста́нтка (ru) f (arestántka)
• Sanskrit: see Thesaurus:बन्दिन्
• Scottish Gaelic: prìosanach m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: затворѐнӣк m, затворѐница f, ка̏жњенӣк m, заробљѐнӣк m, заробљѐница f

  Roman: zatvorènīk (sh) m, zatvorènica (sh) f, kȁžnjenīk (sh) m, zarobljènīk (sh) m, zarobljènica (sh) f

• Slovak: väzeň m, väzeňkyňa f
• Slovene: zapornik (sl) m, zapornica f, jetnik m, jetnica f
• Spanish: prisionero (es) m, preso (es) m
• Swahili: mahabusu (sw), mfungwa (sw)
• Swedish: fånge (sv) c, fängelsekund c, intern (sv) c
• Tagalog: bilanggo (tl), kalabos
• Tajik: маҳбус (mahbus), зиндони (zindon-i), асир (tg) (asir)
• Tamil: கைதி (ta) (kaiti)
• Telugu: ఖైదీ (te) (khaidī)
• Thai: นักโทษ (th) (nák-tôot), เชลย (th) (chá-ləəi)
• Tibetan: བཙོན་པ (btson pa)
• Turkish: mahkum (tr), mahpus (tr), esir (tr)
• Turkmen: tussag, ýesir
• Tuvan: кара-бажыңнаттырган (kara-bajıñnattırgan)
• Ukrainian: в'я́зень (uk) m (vʺjázenʹ), арешта́нт (uk) m (areštánt), арешта́нтка (uk) f (areštántka)
• Urdu: قیدی m (qaidī), بندی m (bandī)
• Uzbek: mahbus (uz), bandi (uz), asir (uz), mahkum (uz)
• Vietnamese: tù nhân (vi)
• Volapük: (♂♀) fanäböpäb, (♂) hifanäböpäb, (♀) jifanäböpäb, fanäb (vo)
• Yiddish: אַרעסטאַנט m (arestant)

figurative: any person held against his or her will

• Asturian: presu m, prisioneru m
• Belarusian: вя́зень m (vjázjenʹ), пало́ннік m (palónnik), пало́нніца f (palónnica), няво́льнік m (njavólʹnik), няво́льніца f (njavólʹnica), пало́нны m (palónny), пало́нная f (palónnaja)
• Bulgarian: пле́нник (bg) m (plénnik), пле́нничка f (plénnička), пле́нница f (plénnica)
• Catalan: pres (ca) m, presoner (ca) m
• Cherokee: ᎠᏴᎩ (ayvgi)
• Czech: zajatec (cs) m, zajatkyně f, vězeň (cs) m, vězeňkyně f
• Finnish: vanki (fi)
• French: prisonnier (fr) m, prisonnière (fr) f
• Galician: preso (gl) m, prisioneiro (gl) m
• German: Gefangener (de) m, Gefangene (de) f
• Greek: κρατούμενος (el) m (kratoúmenos), φυλακισμένος (el) m (fylakisménos), δέσμιος (el) m (désmios)
• Irish: príosúnach m
• Japanese: とりこ (ja) (toriko)
• Plautdietsch: Jefangna m
• Polish: jeniec (pl) m
• Portuguese: prisioneiro (pt) m, preso (pt) m
• Russian: пле́нный (ru) m (plénnyj), пле́нная (ru) f (plénnaja) esp. POW, пле́нник (ru) m (plénnik), пле́нница (ru) f (plénnica), у́зник (ru) m (úznik), у́зница (ru) f (úznica)
• Scottish Gaelic: prìosanach
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: заробљѐнӣк m, заробљѐница f, у̏знӣк m, у̏зница f

  Roman: zarobljènīk (sh) m, zarobljènica (sh) f, ȕznīk (sh) m, ȕznica (sh) f

• Slovak: zajatec m, zajatkyňa f, väzeň m, väzeňkyňa f
• Slovene: ujetnik (sl) m, ujetnica f
• Spanish: prisionero (es) m, preso (es) m
• Swedish: fånge (sv) c
• Turkish: esir (tr), tutsak (tr)
• Ukrainian: в'я́зень (uk) m (vʺjázenʹ), полоне́ник m (polonényk), полоня́нин m (polonjányn), полоня́нка f (polonjánka), бра́нець (uk) m (bránecʹ), бра́нка (uk) f (bránka), полоне́ний m (polonényj), полоне́на f (polonéna)
• Volapük: (♂♀) fanäban, (♂) hifanäban, (♀) jifanäban

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Icelandic: ^{(please verify)} fangi (is) m
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} prigioniero (it) m
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: ^{(please verify)} بەندی (bendî)

• Norwegian: ^{(please verify)} fange (no)
• Old English: ^{(please verify)} hæft
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} preso (es) m

Anagrams

• Perrinos, erpornis

Middle English

Etymology 1

Form prisounen +‎ -er.

Noun

prisoner (plural prisoners)

1. one who imprisons (others); a jailer

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Old French prisonier; equivalent to prisoun +‎ -er.

Alternative forms

• prisonere, prysonere, prysoner, presoner
• (Cornwall) prisner

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /prizuˈneːr/, /ˈprizunər/

Noun

prisoner (plural prisoners or prisoneres)

1. prisoner
2. captive, prisoner of war

Descendants

• English: prisoner