incarceration

[in-kahr-suh-rey-shuh n]

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noun

the act of incarcerating, or putting in prison or another enclosure: The incarceration rate has increased dramatically.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for incarceration

confinement, captivity, restraint

Examples from the Web for incarceration

Contemporary Examples of incarceration

I also want to alert you to the broader circumstances of my incarceration.
An American Marine in Iran’s Prisons Goes on Hunger Strike
IranWire
December 18, 2014
Even when financial facilitators are arrested, incarceration is brief.
U.S. Ally Qatar Shelters Jihadi Moneymen
Jamie Dettmer
December 10, 2014
These crimes of fashion proved the men were feminine and thus gay and therefore worthy of incarceration.
The Straight Hero of Cameroon’s Gays
Jay Michaelson
December 10, 2014
Before my decade of incarceration, I had never seen a dead body.
A Million Ways to Die in Prison
Daniel Genis
December 8, 2014
“Incarceration is costing us a tremendous amount of money,” says Wright.
‘Progressive Jail’ Is a 21st-Century Hell, Inmates Complain
Sarah Shourd
September 29, 2014

Historical Examples of incarceration

Thady had borne his incarceration and distress with the greatest courage.
The Macdermots of Ballycloran
Anthony Trollope
But this, this was an incarceration no supplication could end, a doom not to be stayed.
Greener Than You Think
Ward Moore
I got into prison; I mean, I suffered the incarceration of freedom.
The Cause of it All
Leo Tolstoy
“Lead him,” says he, “to prison,” that is—to the incarceration of free life.
The Cause of it All
Leo Tolstoy
Tell the girls to drop in occasionally and see me in my incarceration.
When Patty Went to College
Jean Webster

Word Origin and History for incarceration

early 15c., "retention of pus," from Medieval Latin incarcerationem (nominative incarceratio), noun of action from past participle stem of incarcerare "to imprison," from in- "in" (see in- (2)) + carcer "prison, an enclosed space," from Proto-Italic *kar-kr(o)-, of uncertain origin.

It seems best to connect carcer with other IE words for 'circle, round object', such as Latin. curvus, Gr. κιρκος 'ring', OIc. hringr, although not all of these have a good IE etymology. The reduplication in Latin carcer could be iconic; thus, the original meaning would have been 'enclosure'. [de Vaan]