Skip to content
ontologydriven
Sign out

Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

incarcerate en · ADJ

Pronunciation

  • /ɪnˈkɑː.səˌɹeɪt/ (UK)
  • (US) audio
  • /ɪnˈkɑɹ.səˌɹeɪt/ (General-American)

Etymology

The adjective is first attested in 1528, the verb in 1575; borrowed from Medieval Latin incarcerātus, perfect passive participle of incarcerō (“to imprison”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from Latin in- (“in”) + carcer (“a prison”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix). Common participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English.

Meanings

  1. (archaic, as a participial adjective, as a participle, not-comparable, obsolete) Incarcerated: jailed, imprisoned, confined, shut in.
    • While incarcerate below, / Prayer with every breath shall flow; / Praise, expiring on my tongue, / Live anew in holier song, / Where my soul, its trial past, / Perfect joy shall reap at last! 1833, Joseph P. Bartrum, The Psalms, Newly Paraphrased for the Service of the Sanctuary. […], Boston, Mass.: Russell, Odiorne, and Company, page 76:
    • THat where I being incarcerate within the ſaid Tolbooth, by Warrand of the Lord Juſtice Clerk, for the Crime of Murder alledged committed by me, […] humbly ſhewing, That where, he being incarcerate within the Tolbooth of Edinburgh, by Warrant of the Lord Juſtice Clerk, for the Crime of Muther committed by him, […] 1732, John Louthian, The Form of Process before the Court of Justiciary in Scotland; Containing the Constitution of the Sovereign Criminal Court, and the Way and Manner of Their Procedure: […], Edinburgh: […] Robert Fleming and Company, for William Hamilton, […], pages 71 and 73:
    • Tane and incarcerat, kepit heir an there 1583, Preface to The Legend of the Bishop St Androis Lyfe:
    • […] Mr. Vanſe, Keeper of the Tolbooth, did give in a Bill, repreſenting, That there being ſo great a number of Priſoners, upon account of Conventicles, and for Criminal Cauſes, and the ſaid Captain being incarcerate, not for a Crime, but for not finding Caution, he was in bona fide not to look upon him as a Perſon that would eſcape: […] 1698, John Nisbet of Dirleton, Some Doubts & Questions, in the Law; Especially of Scotland. As Also, Some Decisions of the Lords of Council and Session: […], Edinburgh: […] George Mosman, […], page 146:
    • Being Incarcerat he put forth a Blaſphemous Paper, not only condemning all the work of Reformation, but alſo the Engliſh Bible in the form as it is now extant; […] 1707, [James Renwick], An Informatory Vindication of a Poor, Wasted, Misrepresented, Remnant of the Suffering, Anti-Popish, Anti-Prelatick, Anti-Erastian, Anti-Sectarian, True Presbyterian Church of Christ in Scotland: […], page 14:
    • Nor is that radiant force in humane kind / Extinguiſht quite, he that did them create / Can thoſe dull ruſty chains of ſleep unbind, / And rear the ſoul unto her ſristin ſtate: / He can them ſo inlarge and elevate / And ſpreaden out, that they can compaſſe all, / When they no longer be incarcerate / In this dark dungeon, this foul fleſhy wall, / Nor be no longer wedg’d in things corporeall: […] 1642, H[enry] M[ore], “ΨΥΧΑΘΑΝΑΣΙΑ [Psychathanasia] Platonica: Or A Platonicall Poem of the Immortality of Souls, Especially Mans Soul”, in ΨΥΧΩΔΙΑ [Psychōdia] Platonica: Or A Platonicall Song of the Soul, […], Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Roger Daniel, printer to the Universitie, →OCLC, book 1, canto 2, stanza 20, page 13:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
encarcerate alternative lexicographic

wikipedia: Early Modern English

incarcerate en · VERB

Pronunciation

  • /ɪnˈkɑː.səˌɹeɪt/ (UK)
  • (US) audio
  • /ɪnˈkɑɹ.səˌɹeɪt/ (General-American)

Etymology

The adjective is first attested in 1528, the verb in 1575; borrowed from Medieval Latin incarcerātus, perfect passive participle of incarcerō (“to imprison”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from Latin in- (“in”) + carcer (“a prison”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix). Common participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English.

Meanings

  1. (US, transitive) To lock away; to imprison, especially for breaking the law.
    • In 2021, a judge found that Angola was providing inadequate medical care to its incarcerated population. 2025 September 3, Hannah Rabinowitz, Devon M. Sayers, “Trump administration to open new ICE facility at notorious Louisiana prison”, in CNN:
    • Tolokonnikova has also been an effective public speaker even while incarcerated, but she has spoken out on politics and freedom in general rather than prisoners’ rights. 2013 September 23, Masha Gessen, “Life in a Russian Prison”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 07 Dec 2022, retrieved 24 Sep 2013:
  2. (transitive) To confine; to shut up or enclose; to hem in.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
encarcerate alternative lexicographic
incarcerates Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
incarcerated Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
incarcerated Tense=Past lexicographic
incarcerating Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic

Deriveds

incarceration · unincarcerated · nonincarcerated · reincarcerate · overincarcerated · incarcerable · disincarcerate · overincarcerate · incarcerator

Relateds

cancel · carcerate · carceral · cancer · chancel · decarcerate

Synonyms

imprison · jail

Translations (50)

bg хвърлям в затвора (to lock away in prison) · cmn 監禁 /监禁 (to lock away in prison) · sv inspärra (to lock away in prison) · de einsperren (to lock away in prison) · fi vangita (to lock away in prison) · kmr desteser kirin (to confine) · mi whakaherehere (to lock away in prison) · nl opsluiten (to lock away in prison) · gl encarcerar (to lock away in prison) · kmr hefs kirin (to confine) · el φυλακίζω (to confine) · bg затварям (to confine) · es encarcelar (to lock away in prison) · th จำคุก (to lock away in prison) · da indespære (to lock away in prison) · nl gevangenzetten (to lock away in prison) · kmr girtin (to confine) · kmr zîndan kirin (to lock away in prison) · ja 投獄する (to lock away in prison) · it incarcerare (to lock away in prison) · mi mauhere (to lock away in prison) · pt encarcerar (to lock away in prison) · hu bebörtönöz (to lock away in prison) · ro închide (to lock away in prison) · hy բանտարկել (to lock away in prison) · fr imprisonner (to lock away in prison) · da fængsle (to lock away in prison) · uk увʼязнювати (to lock away in prison) · kmr zîndan kirin (to confine) · pt prender (to lock away in prison) · it imprigionare (to confine) · ca empresonar (to lock away in prison) · ga cuir i ngéibheann (to lock away in prison) · tr hapsetmek (to confine) · nl intomen (to confine) · tr hapsetmek (to lock away in prison) · pl uwięzić (to lock away in prison) · ca encarcerar (to lock away in prison) · it imprigionare (to lock away in prison) · tr sınırlamak (to confine) · oc encarcerar (to lock away in prison) · ru заключа́ть в тюрьму́ (to lock away in prison) · cmn 禁閉 /禁闭 (to lock away in prison) · ru заключи́ть в тюрьму́ (to lock away in prison) · pt aprisionar (to lock away in prison) · fr incarcérer (to lock away in prison) · ro încarcera (to lock away in prison) · kmr hefs kirin (to lock away in prison) · cs věznit (to lock away in prison) · el φυλακίζω (to lock away in prison)

wikipedia: Early Modern English