prison

From Middle English prisoun, prison, a borrowing from Old French prison, from Latin prehensiōnem, accusative singular of prehensiō, from the verb prehendō. Doublet of prehension.

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɹɪzn̩/, [pʰɹ̠̊ɪzn̩]

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪzən

prison (countable and uncountable, plural prisons)

2. A place or institution where people are held against their will, in the US especially for long-term confinement, as of those convicted of serious crimes or otherwise considered undesirable by the government.

   Synonyms: bridewell, big house; see also Thesaurus:prison

   Hypernyms: correctional facility, correctional institution

   Hyponyms: panopticon, dungeon

   Coordinate terms: gaol, jail, slammer, hoosegow

   The cold stone walls of the prison had stood for over a century.

3. (uncountable) Confinement in prison.

   Synonym: imprisonment

   Prison was a harrowing experience for him.

4. (colloquial, figurative) Any restrictive environment, such as a harsh academy or home.

   The academy was a prison for many of its students because of its strict teachers.

prison (third-person singular simple present prisons, present participle prisoning, simple past and past participle prisoned)

1. (transitive) To imprison.

• “prison”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

• porins, prions, proins, ripons, spinor

Inherited from Old French prison, inherited from Latin prehēnsiōnem, from prehendō. Doublet of préhension.

• IPA^(key): /pʁi.zɔ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (Switzerland (Valais)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Toulouse)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

prison f (plural prisons)

1. prison

   Synonyms: emprisonnement, taule, geôle, enclos

• aimable comme une porte de prison
• emprisonner
• prison dorée
• prisonnier

• “prison”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

• prions, ripons

From French prison (“prison”).

• IPA^(key): /pɣisɔ̃/

prison

1. prison

prison

1. alternative form of prisoun

From Old French prison, from Latin prehensiō, prehensiōnem (“seizing, apprehending, arresting, capturing”).

prison f (plural prisons)

1. (Jersey) prison

• emprisonner, mettre en prison (“to imprison”)

• prisoun (less common)
• prisun (less common)

From Latin prehensiō, prehensiōnem, from prehendō.

prison oblique singular, f (oblique plural prisons, nominative singular prison, nominative plural prisons)

1. prison
   • c. 1200, Aucassin et Nicolette:

     Por vos sui en prison mis
     dans ce celier sousterin

     For you, I have been put in this prison
     in this underground cellar

prison oblique singular, m (oblique plural prisons, nominative singular prisons, nominative plural prison)

1. prisoner

• prisonnier

• Middle French:
  • French: prison
• Norman: prison (Jersey)
• → Old English: prisūn
  • Middle English: prisoun, prison, prisun, prisen, pryson, prisone
    • English: prison
    • Scots: preeson
    • → Middle Irish: prísún
      • Irish: príosún
      • Manx: pryssoon
      • Scottish Gaelic: prìosan
• → Old Galician-Portuguese: prison, priiom, prijon
  • Galician: prisión
  • Portuguese: prisão

• priiom, prijon

Borrowed from Old French prison, from Latin prehēnsiō, from prehendō + -tiō.

prison f (plural *prisones)

1. prison (place of long-term confinement)

   Synonym: cadea

• Galician: prisión
• Portuguese: prisão

• Ferreiro, Manuel (2014–2025), “prison”, in Universo Cantigas: edición crítica da poesía medieval galego-portuguesa [Universo Cantigas: critical edition of Galician-Portuguese medieval poetry] (in Galician), A Coruña: University of A Coruña, →ISSN
• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “prison”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “prison”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega