durance
noun
incarceration or imprisonment (often used in the phrasedurance vile ).
Showing results for durance.
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durancy.
durance
American
[door-uhns, dyoor-]
/ ˈdʊər əns, ˈdjʊər- /
durance
1
British
/ ˈdjʊərəns /
noun
-
imprisonment
-
duration
Durance
2
British
/ dyrɑ̃s /
noun
Etymology
Origin of durance
1400–50; late Middle English < Middle French. See dure 2, -ance
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
And I said: My dear, I have been in durance vile.
From New York Times ● Oct. 14, 2022
They were held in durance only by the tabus and superstitions of their polytheistic religion, which they renounced in 1819 after the death of their great King Kamehameha I. Traders and whalers followed Cook.
From Time Magazine Archive
But durance has been considerably less vile for the eleven G.I.s held by Cambodia since their landing craft strayed out of Vietnamese waters July 17.
From Time Magazine Archive
Take them out of durance vile and put them both to work at the airport.
From Time Magazine Archive
It was the probation, the durance; they all three accepted it; I dont believe there was ever any promise between Henry and Bon demanded or offered.
From "Absalom, Absalom!" by William Faulkner
Both the Guisane and Durance are popular rivers for white water rafting, fed by glaciers and snowmelt in the spring.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2025
Last year, a British man died after getting into difficulty on the river Durance, which also passes through Briancon.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2025
Ms. Siegel was the first in a long line of Lois Lanes, who have included Phyllis Coates, Noel Neill, Teri Hatcher, and Erica Durance on television and Margot Kidder in the movies.
From New York Times ● Feb. 16, 2011
So when 32-year-old Gustave Dominici, whose farmhouse overlooks the river Durance, heard shots sometime after midnight on Aug. 5, he turned over and went back to sleep.
From Time Magazine Archive
Two years later the district between the Rhone and the Alps, south of the Durance, was added to the Visigothic kingdom.
From A History of Rome to 565 A. D. by Arthur Edward Romilly Boak
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