Meanings
noundecarceration (countable and uncountable, plural decarcerations)
plural decarcerations
- countableuncountableA policy of reducing the amount of imprisoned people in a given population.
Whereas rates of COVID-19 vary nationwide, our results add to a growing body of literature emphasizing high COVID-19 rates in carceral settings and the importance of testing and decarceration.
2020 August 21, Jiménez, M. C. et al., “Epidemiology of COVID-19 among incarcerated individuals and staff in Massachusetts jails and prisons”, in JAMA, →DOI
Origin
Modeled on incarceration, replacing the prefix with de-.
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with decarceration
informationeducationlocationapplicationassociationadministrationorganizationcorporationregistrationAsianfoundationcommunicationpopulationnavigationstationaccommodationoperationpublicationvacationtransportationevaluationimplementationinstallationnation
All rhymes →Cite this entry
APA
decarceration. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/decarceration
MLA
“decarceration.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/decarceration. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “decarceration,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/decarceration.
Source: decarceration on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.