Etymology

incarcerate

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Today it means: To lock away; to imprison, especially for breaking the law. Full definition →

Medieval Latin incarcerātus ← Latin in-
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The story

  1. Latin · derived fromin-“in”
  2. Medieval Latin · borrowed fromincarcerātus
  3. English todayincarcerate

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.

Words from the same roots

Latinin- all →

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Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.