imprison

im·pris·on
I1M3P3R1I1S1O1N1
/ɪmˈpɹɪzən/

verb

To put in or as if in prison; confine somebody against their will.

Similar
bang upgaoljaillock upput awayimmuresend to the Towerbastille
OriginMiddle English imprisonen ← Old French emprisonner ← Latin prehēnsiō →
UncommonScrabble 12
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Meanings

verbimprison (third-person singular simple present imprisons, present participle imprisoning, simple past and past participle imprisoned)

present singular third person imprisons · participle present imprisoning · participle past imprisoned · past imprisoned · alternative obsolete emprison

  1. transitiveTo put in or as if in prison; confine somebody against their will.

    [...] demand for the boots fell sharply after the Battle of Waterloo, and Brunel was imprisoned for debt in 1821.

    2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page 87
    2 more examples

    One of the village's most notable sons was Thomas Grantham, a Baptist church leader born in 1634, who was persecuted and imprisoned in the struggle for nonconformist beliefs during the reign of Charles II.

    1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 214, about Halton Holegate

    None of these people has ever had what they really wanted, and if they get a glimmer of it, they back off suspiciously, failures of imagination helping to imprison them further.

    1985 December 21, Mara Math, “Fen (review)”, in Gay Community News, volume 13, number 23, page 15

    Synonyms: bang up, gaol, jail, lock up, put away, immure, send to the Tower, bastille

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo put in or as if in prison; confine somebody against their will.

Similar
bang upgaoljaillock upput awayimmuresend to the Towerbastilleclap upconfineincarceratemew uproofsend down

More synonyms by meaning

verblock up or confine, in or as in a jail

Similar
incarceratelagimmureput behind barsjailjuggaolput awayremand
Broader
confinedetain
Also see
bastilleenjailgaolimmureincarceratejailjuglagput awayremand

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  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. Englishimprison

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

More words from Middle English, Old French

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek φυλακίζω
  • φυλακίζω (phulakízō)put in prison
Arabic حَبَسَ, سَجَنَ
  • حَبَسَ (ḥabasa)put in prison
  • سَجَنَ (sajana)put in prison
Bulgarian опандизвам
  • опандизвам (opandizvam)put in prison
Catalan empresonar
  • empresonarput in prison
Chinese Mandarin 關押 /关押, 監禁 /监禁
  • 關押 /关押 (guānyā)put in prison
  • 監禁 /监禁 (jiānjìn)put in prison
  • 下獄 /下狱 (xiàyù)put in prison
  • 囚禁 (qiújìn)put in prison
Czech věznit, uvěznit
  • věznitput in prison
  • uvěznitput in prison
Danish fængsle
  • fængsleput in prison
Esperanto enprizonigi, malliberigi
  • enprizonigiput in prison
  • malliberigiput in prison
Finnish vangita
  • vangitaput in prison
French emprisonner, mettre en prison
  • emprisonnerput in prison
  • mettre en prisonput in prison
German einsperren, einkerkern
  • einsperrenput in prison
  • einkerkernput in prison
Greek φυλακίζω
  • φυλακίζω (fylakízo)put in prison
Hawaiian hoʻopaʻahao
  • hoʻopaʻahaoput in prison
Hungarian bebörtönöz
  • bebörtönözput in prison
Icelandic fangelsa
  • fangelsaput in prison
Indonesian memenjarakan
  • memenjarakanput in prison
Irish cuir i bpríosún, cuir i ngéibheann
  • cuir i bpríosúnput in prison
  • cuir i ngéibheannput in prison
Italian imprigionare, incarcerare
  • imprigionareput in prison
  • incarcerareput in prison
Japanese 刑務所に入れる, 投獄する
  • 刑務所に入れる (keimusho ni ireru)put in prison
  • 投獄する (tōgoku suru)put in prison
  • 閉じ込める (tojikomeru)put in prison
Korean 투옥(投獄)하다
  • 투옥(投獄)하다 (tuokhada)put in prison
Māori mauhere, whakaherehere
  • mauhereput in prison
  • whakaherehereput in prison
Norwegian fengsle
  • fengsleput in prison
Polish więzić, uwięzić
  • więzićput in prison
  • uwięzićput in prison
Portuguese aprisionar, prender
  • aprisionarput in prison
  • prenderput in prison
  • encarcerarput in prison
Romanian întemnița, încarcera
  • întemnițaput in prison
  • încarceraput in prison
  • închideput in prison
Russian лиша́ть свобо́ды, заключа́ть в тюрьму́
  • лиша́ть свобо́ды (lišátʹ svobódy)put in prison
  • заключа́ть в тюрьму́ (zaključátʹ v tjurʹmú)put in prison
  • сажа́ть в тюрьму́ (sažátʹ v tjurʹmú)put in prison
Slovak väzniť, uväzniť
  • väzniťput in prison
  • uväzniťput in prison
Spanish encarcelar, aprisionar
  • encarcelarput in prison
  • aprisionarput in prison
Swahili -funga
  • -fungaput in prison
Swedish fängsla
  • fängslaput in prison
Thai ขัง, จำคุก
  • ขัง (kǎng)put in prison
  • จำคุก (jam-kúk)put in prison
Ukrainian ув'я́знювати, ув'язни́ти
  • ув'я́знювати (uvʺjáznjuvaty)put in prison
  • ув'язни́ти (uvʺjaznýty)put in prison
Vietnamese bỏ tù
  • bỏ tùput in prison
Welsh carcharu
  • carcharuput in prison

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with imprison

prisonrisenmizzenbedizenwizen
All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

imprison. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/imprison

MLA

“imprison.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/imprison. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “imprison,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/imprison.

Source: imprison on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.