quarantine
Americannoun
-
quarantines
plural
-
a strict isolation imposed to prevent the spread of disease.
-
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.
-
a system of measures maintained by governmental authority at ports, frontiers, etc., for preventing the spread of disease.
-
the branch of the governmental service concerned with such measures.
-
a place or station at which such measures are carried out, as a special port or dock where ships are detained.
-
the detention or isolation enforced.
-
the place, especially a hospital, where people are detained.
-
a period of 40 days.
-
social, political, or economic isolation imposed as a punishment, as in ostracizing an individual or enforcing sanctions against a foreign state.
verb (used with object)
-
quarantines,
present (3rd person singular)
-
quarantined,
past participle, past
-
quarantining
present participle
-
to put in or subject to quarantine.
-
to exclude, detain, or isolate for political, social, or hygienic reasons.
noun
-
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
-
the place or area where such detention is enforced
-
any period or state of enforced isolation
verb
-
to isolate in or as if in quarantine
-
to withhold (a portion of a welfare payment) from a person or group of people
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
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
quarantinesimple
-
quarantinessimple
-
have quarantinedperfect
-
has quarantinedperfect
-
am quarantiningprogressive
-
are quarantiningprogressive
-
is quarantiningprogressive
-
have been quarantiningperfect progressive
-
has been quarantiningperfect progressive
Past
-
quarantinedsimple
-
had quarantinedperfect
-
was quarantiningprogressive
-
were quarantiningprogressive
-
had been quarantiningperfect progressive
Future
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.
Vocabulary lists containing quarantine
Fever 1793
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
John F. Kennedy's Address to the American People on the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
40 SAT words Beginning with "Q"
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
About two weeks before the flight, the Crew-13 astronauts will begin quarantine at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 1, 2026
In contrast, Uganda managed to quarantine more than 6,000 contacts of people known to have Ebola during the outbreak.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026
South Carolina’s health department required unvaccinated students exposed to measles to quarantine for three weeks after possible exposure and eventually declared the outbreak over within seven months.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 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
Everyone knows about the quarantine, even if it’s breached.
From "Class Matters" by The New York Times
This group’s central experience of the government’s pledge to promote safety and security was instead through its Covid-19 pandemic response: quarantines, social distance and school closings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
Ongoing quarantines can affect locals who grow and sell fruits and also residents of the affected areas.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026
When mandated quarantines ended, he would declare victory.
From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2026
To be sure, screwworms can be contained through quarantines, tighter surveillance, and other methods.
From Barron's ● Jun. 8, 2026
Farmer strongly believed that quarantines were not an effective strategy for handling AIDS, but the Cuban approach had been far more humane.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
Like many other patients, she co-operated fully with the guidelines even during the frightening time when her 11-month-old baby, whom she was still breastfeeding, was taken away from her and quarantined for 21 days.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026
Eighteen Americans have been quarantined for weeks at a specialized facility at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 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
Uncle Clyde has TB—tuberculosis—and has been quarantined at the hospital.
From "Betty Before X" by Ilyasah Shabazz and Renée Watson
Utah’s ongoing measles outbreak, fueled in part by a lack of uniform quarantining efforts, has lasted more than a year and spread to nearly every county in the state.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 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
Some other countries were only quarantining people from the ship for a few days before telling them to isolate at home, the minister said.
From Barron's ● May 11, 2026
Then they tested what happens when different interventions - culling birds, quarantining close contacts and targeted vaccination - kicked in.
From BBC ● Dec. 17, 2025
I remember lice from the boat—Mam was terrified of us kids getting it, and she checked our heads every day, quarantining us when we heard about outbreaks in other cabins.
From "Orphan Train" by Christina Baker Kline
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
