prison

American  

[priz-uhn] / ˈprɪz ən /

noun

1. a building for the confinement of persons held while awaiting trial, persons sentenced after conviction, etc.

2. state prison.

3. any place of confinement or involuntary restraint.

4. imprisonment.

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prison British  

/ ˈprɪzən /

noun

1. a public building used to house convicted criminals and accused persons remanded in custody and awaiting trial See also jail penitentiary reformatory

2. any place of confinement or seeming confinement

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Other Word Forms

• postprison adjective
• prisonlike adjective

Etymology

Origin of prison

before 1150; Middle English prison, earlier prisun < Old French, variant of preson imprisonment, a prison < Latin pre ( hē ) nsiōn- (stem of prehēnsiō ) a seizure, arrest, equivalent to prehēns ( us ) (past participle of prehendere to seize) + -iōn- -ion; doublet of prehension

Example Sentences

In 2019, pastor Wang Yi was sentenced to nine years in prison for incitement of subversion of state power and illegal business operations.

From The Wall Street Journal

Ames, 84, died this week in a federal prison in Maryland.

From The Wall Street Journal

This means Williams will be transferred to the juvenile court system, where he could become eligible for immediate release from prison.

From Los Angeles Times

A £4m-a-year lease for a prison that has been empty for 18 months has been a "needless waste of taxpayers' money", a report from MPs found.

From BBC

Many of those arrested at the time were sentenced to lengthy prison sentences after being sentenced for "treason".

From BBC

Related Words

• confinement
• jail
• lockup
• penitentiary