jail English · revision 4422

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1275|origins=la cavea}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /dʒeɪl/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It developed from two Middle English forms:^(Barnhart 1988)^(COED 2004) [[inh|enm|jaiole]], jaile,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) [[bor|fro|jaiole|t=a cage; a prison]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) and gaiol, gaole, from Old North French and Anglo-French gaiole, gaole, the form usual in Middle English manuscripts and familiar to Norman scribes.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(COED 2004) Both are from Medieval Latin gabiola, Vulgar Latin *gaviola,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2000) from Late Latin [[m|la-lat|caveola]], a diminutive of [[la|cavea|t=cage, enclosure, coop; a hollow, cavity]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from cavus “hollow”.^(Cresswell 2021) It is related to [[cage]] and [[cave]].^(Cresswell 2021)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A jail, prison, and a birdcage: about 1275 in the OED,^(OED 1989) about 1300 in Etymonline, and about 1200 in surnames;^(Etymonline) gaiol probably before 1300 and jaiole before 1325, in Cursor Mundi, according to Barnhart.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The spelling jail is first recorded in Milton's Samson Agonistes (1674), and gaol, also found in Middle English and in old law books, was recorded again from 1689.^(Barnhart 1988) Whatever the spelling, it is now pronounced “jail”; the OED says the persistence of gaol in Britain is chiefly due to statutory and official tradition.^(Etymonline) In the United States a jail is usually a place of confinement for petty offenders.^(Etymonline) ''In jail'', ''to jail'' without an article is from 1447,^(OED 1989) and figurative uses from about 1400.^(OED 1989) The verb, “to put in jail”, is from 1604 in Barnhart and Merriam-Webster,^(Barnhart 1988)^(MW Collegiate) about 1600 in Etymonline,^(Etymonline) and 1622 in the OED.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1275 – a prison.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1400 – figuratively, a confinement.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1447 – ''in jail''.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1604 – verb, to imprison.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1674 – the spelling jail.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A place for confining people held in lawful custody; a [[prison]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Detention in a jail: ''sentenced to ten days in jail''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To detain in custody; to [[imprison]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[jailable]]

+ * [[jailless]]

+ * [[jaillike]]

+ * [[jailor]]

+ * [[jailbait]]

+ * [[jailbird]]

+ * [[jailbreak]]

+ * [[jailer]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[gaol]]

+ * [[cage]]

+ * [[cave]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Gaol is the old-fashioned British spelling of the same word.^(Cresswell 2021)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}