Etymology

imprison

im·pris·on
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Today it means: To put in or as if in prison; confine somebody against their will. Full definition →

Middle English imprisonen ← Old French emprisonner ← Latin prehēnsiō
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₁én
  2. Proto-Italic*en
  3. Proto-Italic*en-
  4. Latinin-
  5. Old Frenchen-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*per-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*preh₂-
  8. Proto-Indo-European*préh₂i?
  9. Proto-Italic*prai
  10. Proto-Italic*prai-
  11. Proto-Indo-European*gʰed-
  12. Proto-Indo-European*gʰnédti
  13. Proto-Italic*hendō
  14. Proto-Italic*praiɣendō
  15. Latinprehendō
  16. Latinprehēnsiō
  17. Old Frenchprison
  18. Old Frenchemprisonner
  19. Middle Englishemprisonen
  20. Middle Englishimprisonen
  21. English todayimprison

Inherited from Middle English imprisonen, emprisounen, emprisonen, from Old French emprisonner. Equivalent to im- + prison.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.