Etymologically
Log in

prison

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 19:08. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈprɪz.ᵊn/[1]

Etymology

It is late inherited from Old English prisun, borrowed from Old French prisun, prison “captivity; a prison; a prisoner”,[2][3] altered under the influence of pris “taken” from earlier preson,[2][3] from Latin prēnsiō (“a seizing, arrest”), contracted from prehēnsiō,[2][3] from prehendere (“to seize, take”),[2][3] from prae- (“before”) and -hendere, from Proto-Indo-European *ghend- (“to seize, take”).[2] The word comes from the act of arrest, not the place.[4][5] The verb is from the noun.[2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Confinement, captivity: before 1112 in Barnhart[3] and before 1123 in the OED.[7] A place of confinement is from probably before 1200.[3]

Semantic evolution

In early use it often meant the condition of captivity;[2] the main modern sense, a public building for confining criminals and others held by law, grew out of it.[2][7] A prison was also a prisoner, from 1195,[7] until prisoner (1350–75) replaced it after the 15th century.[3] The verb, “to imprison”, is from 1292.[7] Figurative uses, of anything that confines, are from before 1225.[7] Prison-without-bars, an open prison, is from 1948.[7]

Timeline

  • before 1112 – confinement.[3]
  • 1195 – a prisoner.[7]
  • before 1200 – a place of confinement.[3]
  • before 1225 – figurative uses.[7]
  • 1292 – verb, to imprison.[7]
  • 1350–75 – prisoner.[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A building where people convicted or accused of crimes are kept; a jail.
  2. A place or condition of confinement.
  3. The state of being imprisoned; captivity.

Verb

  1. (literary) To imprison.

Word family

  • prisonlike
  • postprison
  • unprison
  • imprison
  • prisoner
  • prison fever
  • prison psychosis
  • prison camp
  • prehensile
  • apprehend
  • comprehend
  • prize
  • reprisal

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  5. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press