prisoner of conscience

noun

Anyone imprisoned because of their race, religion, or political views.

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounprisoner of conscience (plural prisoners of conscience)

plural prisoners of conscience

  1. Anyone imprisoned because of their race, religion, or political views.

Origin

Defined by Peter Benenson in his article "The Forgotten Prisoners" in 1961.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic سَجِين الرَأْي
  • سَجِين الرَأْي (sajīn ar-raʔy)person imprisoned for their race, religion, or politics
Chinese Mandarin 良心犯
  • 良心犯 (liángxīnfàn)person imprisoned for their race, religion, or politics
Dutch gewetensgevangene
  • gewetensgevangeneperson imprisoned for their race, religion, or politics
Finnish mielipidevanki
  • mielipidevankiperson imprisoned for their race, religion, or politics
French prisonnier d'opinion
  • prisonnier d'opinionperson imprisoned for their race, religion, or politics
German Gefangener aus Gewissensgründen
  • Gefangener aus Gewissensgründenperson imprisoned for their race, religion, or politics
Hebrew אסיר מצפון
  • אסיר מצפון (asír matspún)person imprisoned for their race, religion, or politics
Italian prigioniero di coscienza
  • prigioniero di coscienzaperson imprisoned for their race, religion, or politics
Japanese 良心の囚人
  • 良心の囚人 (ryōshin no shūjin)person imprisoned for their race, religion, or politics
Korean 양심수, 량심수
  • 양심수 (yangsimsu)person imprisoned for their race, religion, or politics
  • 량심수 (ryangsimsu)person imprisoned for their race, religion, or politics
Polish więzień sumienia, więzień polityczny
  • więzień sumieniaperson imprisoned for their race, religion, or politics
  • więzień politycznyperson imprisoned for their race, religion, or politics
Portuguese prisioneiro de consciência
  • prisioneiro de consciênciaperson imprisoned for their race, religion, or politics
Russian у́зник со́вести
  • у́зник со́вести (úznik sóvesti)person imprisoned for their race, religion, or politics
Scottish Gaelic prìosanach cogais
  • prìosanach cogaisperson imprisoned for their race, religion, or politics
Spanish preso de conciencia
  • preso de concienciaperson imprisoned for their race, religion, or politics
Swedish samvetsfånge
  • samvetsfångeperson imprisoned for their race, religion, or politics
Turkish vicdan mahkumu
  • vicdan mahkumuperson imprisoned for their race, religion, or politics
Ukrainian в'я́зень сумлі́ння
  • в'я́зень сумлі́ння (vʺjázenʹ sumlínnja)person imprisoned for their race, religion, or politics
Vietnamese tù nhân lương tâm
  • tù nhân lương tâmperson imprisoned for their race, religion, or politics
Cite this entry
APA

prisoner of conscience. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prisoner%20of%20conscience

MLA

“prisoner of conscience.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prisoner%20of%20conscience. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “prisoner of conscience,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prisoner%20of%20conscience.

Source: prisoner of conscience on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.