self-quarantine

/ˌsɛlfˈkwɒɹəntiːn/

verb

To refrain from physical contact with other individuals, especially in order to reduce the transmission of a contagious disease.

Similar
self-isolateself-isolationhome quarantinehome isolation

Meanings

verbself-quarantine (third-person singular simple present self-quarantines, present participle self-quarantining, simple past and past participle self-quarantined)

present singular third person self-quarantines · participle present self-quarantining · participle past self-quarantined · past self-quarantined

  1. intransitiveepidemiologyTo refrain from physical contact with other individuals, especially in order to reduce the transmission of a contagious disease.

    He said that he became sick with relatively mild symptoms about a week ago and self-quarantined at his home.

    2020 March 22, Alex Wigglesworth, Maria L. La Ganga, Richard Winton, James Queally, “California coronavirus death toll rises to 27, including four in L.A. County”, in Los Angeles Times

    Synonyms: self-isolate

nounself-quarantine (countable and uncountable, plural self-quarantines)

plural self-quarantines

  1. countableuncountableepidemiologyIsolation by avoiding physical contact with other individuals, especially in order to reduce the transmission of a contagious disease.

    Eleven city firefighters have tested positive, and more than 50 are in self-quarantine.

    2020 March 22, Alex Wigglesworth, Maria L. La Ganga, Richard Winton, James Queally, “California coronavirus death toll rises to 27, including four in L.A. County”, in Los Angeles Times
    1 more example

    We apply this model to a large urban area (9 million people) and evaluate the effect of situational awareness (early detection and response) and several response measures, such as mass vaccination, quarantine, closure, mass-transit shutdown, and voluntary self-quarantine on the spread of the epidemic and on the total number of casualties.

    2005 November, Moshe Kress, “The Effect of Social Mixing Controls on the Spread of Smallpox—A Two-Level Model”, in Health Care Management Science, volume 8, number 4, →DOI, →ISSN, page 277

    Synonyms: self-isolation, home quarantine, home isolation

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo refrain from physical contact with other individuals, especially in order to reduce the transmission of a contagious disease.

nounIsolation by avoiding physical contact with other individuals, especially in order to reduce the transmission of a contagious disease.

Similar
self-isolationhome quarantinehome isolation

Origin

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 隔離 /隔离
  • 隔離 /隔离 (gélí)isolation by avoiding physical contact with other individuals
Dutch zelfquarantaine, thuisquarantaine
  • zelfquarantaineisolation by avoiding physical contact with other individuals
  • thuisquarantaineisolation by avoiding physical contact with other individuals
Finnish omaehtoinen karanteeni
  • omaehtoinen karanteeniisolation by avoiding physical contact with other individuals
German Selbstquarantäne
  • Selbstquarantäneisolation by avoiding physical contact with other individuals
Hungarian önkéntes karantén
  • önkéntes karanténisolation by avoiding physical contact with other individuals
Italian autoquarantena
  • autoquarantenaisolation by avoiding physical contact with other individuals
Polish samoizolacja
  • samoizolacjaisolation by avoiding physical contact with other individuals
Portuguese auto quarentena
  • auto quarentenaisolation by avoiding physical contact with other individuals
Romanian autocarantină
  • autocarantinăisolation by avoiding physical contact with other individuals
Swedish självkarantän
  • självkarantänisolation by avoiding physical contact with other individuals
Cite this entry
APA

self-quarantine. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-quarantine

MLA

“self-quarantine.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-quarantine. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “self-quarantine,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-quarantine.

Source: self-quarantine on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.