internment

[in-turn-muhnt]

noun

1. an act or instance of interning, or confining a person or ship to prescribed limits during wartime.

   the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.

2. the state of being interned; confinement.

Word History and Origins

Origin of internment¹

First recorded in 1865–70; intern ² + -ment

Example Sentences

We have a history of shadows: Japanese internment orders were once signed here, ICE raids now resume here.

From Los Angeles Times

"And the Everglades internment camp even more so," he said.

From BBC

They are building facilities across the country that can only be described as internment camps.

From Salon

France pushed hundreds of thousands of Cameroonians into internment camps and supported brutal militias to quash the independence struggle, the AFP news agency quotes the report as saying.

From BBC

By 1940, new policies ordered all German nationals - Jewish or not - into internment camps.

From BBC

Related Words

• bondage 
• confinement 
• custody 
• imprisonment 
• incarceration 
• slavery