quarantine

American  

[kwawr-uhn-teen, kwor-, kwawr-uhn-teen, kwor-] / ˈkwɔr ənˌtin, ˈkwɒr-, ˌkwɔr ənˈtin, ˌkwɒr- /

noun

• quarantines
  plural

1. a strict isolation imposed to prevent the spread of disease.

2. a period, originally 40 days, of detention or isolation imposed upon ships, persons, animals, or plants on arrival at a port or place, when suspected of carrying some infectious or contagious disease.

3. a system of measures maintained by governmental authority at ports, frontiers, etc., for preventing the spread of disease.

4. the branch of the governmental service concerned with such measures.

5. a place or station at which such measures are carried out, as a special port or dock where ships are detained.

6. the detention or isolation enforced.

7. the place, especially a hospital, where people are detained.

8. a period of 40 days.

9. social, political, or economic isolation imposed as a punishment, as in ostracizing an individual or enforcing sanctions against a foreign state.

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verb (used with object)

• quarantines,
  present (3rd person singular)
• quarantined,
  past participle,  past
• quarantining
  present participle

1. to put in or subject to quarantine.

2. to exclude, detain, or isolate for political, social, or hygienic reasons.

quarantine British  

/ ˈkwɒrənˌtiːn /

noun

1. a period of isolation or detention, esp of persons or animals arriving from abroad, to prevent the spread of disease, usually consisting of the maximum known incubation period of the suspected disease

2. the place or area where such detention is enforced

3. any period or state of enforced isolation

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verb

1. to isolate in or as if in quarantine

2. to withhold (a portion of a welfare payment) from a person or group of people

quarantine Cultural  

1. The isolation of people who either have a contagious disease or have been exposed to one, in an attempt to prevent the spread of the disease.

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Discover More

The term is sometimes used politically to designate the political and economic isolation of a nation in retribution for unacceptable policies: “When Iraq invaded Kuwait, it was placed in quarantine by the nations of the world.”

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• prequarantine
  noun
• quarantiner
  noun
• quarantinable
  adjective
• unquarantined
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• quarantines
  plural

Participles

• quarantining
  present
• quarantined
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• quarantine
  simple
• quarantines
  simple
• have quarantined
  perfect
• has quarantined
  perfect
• am quarantining
  progressive
• are quarantining
  progressive
• is quarantining
  progressive
• have been quarantining
  perfect progressive
• has been quarantining
  perfect progressive

Past

• quarantined
  simple
• had quarantined
  perfect
• was quarantining
  progressive
• were quarantining
  progressive
• had been quarantining
  perfect progressive

Future

• will quarantine
  simple
• will have quarantined
  perfect
• will be quarantining
  progressive
• will have been quarantining
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of quarantine

First recorded in 1600–10; from Italian quarantina, variant of quarantena, originally Upper Italian (Venetian): “period of forty days, group of forty,” derivative of quaranta “forty,” ultimately from Latin quadrāgintā

Explanation

If you contract something highly infectious, such as pinkeye, please quarantine yourself so that you don’t infect others with it. This means you’ll have to stay in isolation and avoid contact with other people. Starting in the 16th century, a quarantine lasted specifically 40 days. The word is in fact derived from the Latin quadraginta, which means "forty." Originally, this referred to the amount of time a widow could remain in her deceased husband’s house, then referred to the period of time a ship had to wait off a country’s port if its passengers were disease-stricken. Now, it can mean a period of isolation of any length, and can be used as both a verb and a noun.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

quarantine quarantines quarantined quarantining

The move comes after the end of a 42-day quarantine at a facility in Nebraska for exposed American cruise ship passengers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

In the end, Price’s designer makeover came at the perfect time, concluding just before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw the family forced to quarantine inside the dwelling for weeks on end.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026

Director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the final contact of a person exposed to hantavirus on the MV Hondius had completed their quarantine period, tested negative and returned home.

From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026

We arrived in California on Easter Sunday and joined the rest of the world in quarantine, not knowing how it would affect our work and financial future.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026

He thought we’d found out that he was the one who’d fed Devlin and Burton information during the fake quarantine.

From "Moon Over Manifest" by Clare Vanderpool

Ongoing quarantines can affect locals who grow and sell fruits and also residents of the affected areas.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026

To be sure, screwworms can be contained through quarantines, tighter surveillance, and other methods.

From Barron's ● Jun. 8, 2026

The department said it had also enacted "quarantines, movement controls, and surveillance" in that area.

From BBC ● Jun. 6, 2026

The future historians face toilet-paper shortages, quarantines and contact tracing.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 17, 2026

The medical discoveries made by such brilliant scientists as Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch led to procedures such as vaccination and measures such as quarantines that, when mandated by the government, saved millions of lives.

From "1919 The Year That Changed America" by Martin W. Sandler

People with Ebola-like symptoms avoid seeking treatment, fearing they will be quarantined.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 16, 2026

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday that the U.S. plans to transport all seven Americans to Germany, where they will likely continue to be quarantined.

From MarketWatch ● May 18, 2026

Two of the exposed Californians are quarantined at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 14, 2026

But a top US health official said the 17 American passengers would not necessarily be quarantined.

From Barron's ● May 11, 2026

For a week, patients who arrived at the doors were turned away, while sixty-seven people were quarantined inside the hospital, mostly medical staff.

From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston

After that, Ugandan officials quickly swung into action, tracking down and quarantining dozens of people the man had encountered while ill.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026

It didn’t take endless quarantining with my spouse during the COVID-19 pandemic to end my marriage of over two decades.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026

In the U.S., some Americans who disembarked earlier in the trip and returned home before the outbreak had been made public are quarantining at home.

From MarketWatch ● May 12, 2026

Spain's health ministry earlier said one Spaniard who is quarantining in Madrid after being evacuated from the vessel had also provisionally tested positive for hantavirus on Monday.

From BBC ● May 12, 2026

We found what turned out to be one of the last buses out of Tembisa, for the police were quarantining the ghetto, barring all company vehicles and public transportation.

From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane

Related Words

• block off
• sequester