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

The demonstration was a protest against the policy of internment – imprisoning people without trial – which had been put in place following three years of violence.

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On the home front, Romer shows how Ruth barnstormed Central California in 1927, a decade and a half before the U.S. government forced citizens of Japanese ancestry into internment camps there.

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

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

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

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Related Words

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