quarantine

American  

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

noun

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)

quarantined, quarantining

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

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

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

Example Sentences

The sleepy town is under a militarized quarantine.

From Los Angeles Times

As she writes in her new memoir, “Bread of Angels,” “Mine was a Proustian childhood, one of intermittent quarantine and convalescence.”

From The Wall Street Journal

The sleepy town of Hawkins is under quarantine as the show’s heroes search for a way to find and vanquish the baddie Vecna.

From The Wall Street Journal

The free event also includes information about gardening, honeybees, composting, irrigation, new tree pests and citrus quarantine areas in Orange County.

From Los Angeles Times

China is taking steps to strengthen animal disease surveillance, quarantine controls, and the use of protective equipment among farm workers, Lu says.

From Science Magazine

Related Words

• block off
• sequester