Meanings
plural incarcerations
- UScountableuncountableThe act of confining, or the state of being confined; imprisonment.
[…]Syria reemerged indirectly, through Turkey's incarceration of Pastor Andrew Brunson.
2020 June 23, John Bolton, The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 1831 more example
Perpetrated over time, better walk the narrow line / Never challenge what we say / In the darkness of our mind, never thought we'd be so blind / Let the nightmare get away / Isolation cannot be / The best, the best that we can do / Build a cage full of rage, inner demons call your name / Suicide, your only friend / Extermination of ourselves, mass incarceration / Termination of ourselves, mass incarcerate / In the cage, in the cage / You will remain
2020 February 7, “Isolation”, in Derrick Green (lyrics), Quadra, performed by Sepultura - countabledateduncountablemedicineA strangulation, as in a hernia.
- countableuncountableA constriction of the hernial sac, rendering it irreducible, but not great enough to cause strangulation.
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinin-
- Proto-Indo-European*(s)ker-
- Latincarcer
- Latinincarcerō
- Medieval Latinincarcerātiō
- Englishincarceration
Borrowed from Medieval Latin incarcerātiō, equivalent to incarcerate + -ion.
More words from Medieval Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic حَبْس, سَجْن
- حَبْس (ḥabs)act of confining, or the state of being confined; imprisonment — see also imprisonment
- سَجْن (sajn)act of confining, or the state of being confined; imprisonment — see also imprisonment
Catalan encarcerament
- encarceramentact of confining, or the state of being confined; imprisonment — see also imprisonment
Chinese Mandarin 下獄 /下狱, 監禁 /监禁
- 下獄 /下狱 (xiàyù)act of confining, or the state of being confined; imprisonment — see also imprisonment
- 監禁 /监禁 (jiānjìn)act of confining, or the state of being confined; imprisonment — see also imprisonment
- 有期徒刑 (yǒuqí túxíng)act of confining, or the state of being confined; imprisonment — see also imprisonment
Czech věznění, zauzlení
- vězněníact of confining, or the state of being confined; imprisonment — see also imprisonment
- zauzleníformerly, strangulation, as in hernia
Finnish vangitseminen, kurouma
- vangitseminenact of confining, or the state of being confined; imprisonment — see also imprisonment
- kuroumaconstriction of the hernial sac
French incarcération
- incarcérationact of confining, or the state of being confined; imprisonment — see also imprisonment
German Einkerkerung
- Einkerkerungact of confining, or the state of being confined; imprisonment — see also imprisonment
Greek φυλάκιση
- φυλάκιση (fylákisi)act of confining, or the state of being confined; imprisonment — see also imprisonment
Hebrew מַאֲסָר
- מַאֲסָר (ma'asár)act of confining, or the state of being confined; imprisonment — see also imprisonment
Indonesian hukuman penjara
- hukuman penjaraact of confining, or the state of being confined; imprisonment — see also imprisonment
Italian incarcerazione
- incarcerazioneact of confining, or the state of being confined; imprisonment — see also imprisonment
Japanese 投獄
- 投獄 (tōgoku)act of confining, or the state of being confined; imprisonment — see also imprisonment
Persian حبس
- حبس (habs)act of confining, or the state of being confined; imprisonment — see also imprisonment
Polish inkarceracja, pozbawienie wolności
- inkarceracjaact of confining, or the state of being confined; imprisonment — see also imprisonment
- pozbawienie wolnościact of confining, or the state of being confined; imprisonment — see also imprisonment
Portuguese encarceramento
- encarceramentoact of confining, or the state of being confined; imprisonment — see also imprisonment
Russian лише́ние свобо́ды, заключе́ние
- лише́ние свобо́ды (lišénije svobódy)act of confining, or the state of being confined; imprisonment — see also imprisonment
- заключе́ние (zaključénije)act of confining, or the state of being confined; imprisonment — see also imprisonment
Spanish encarcelación, encarcelamiento
- encarcelaciónact of confining, or the state of being confined; imprisonment — see also imprisonment
- encarcelamientoact of confining, or the state of being confined; imprisonment — see also imprisonment
- carcelazoact of confining, or the state of being confined; imprisonment — see also imprisonment
Ukrainian ув'язнення, позба́влення во́лі
- ув'язнення (uvʺjaznennja)act of confining, or the state of being confined; imprisonment — see also imprisonment
- позба́влення во́лі (pozbávlennja vóli)act of confining, or the state of being confined; imprisonment — see also imprisonment
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with incarceration
Cite this entry
incarceration. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/incarceration
“incarceration.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/incarceration. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “incarceration,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/incarceration.
Source: incarceration on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.