English edit

Etymology edit

From Medieval Latin incarcerātus, past participle of incarcerō (to imprison), from Latin in- (in) + carcer (a prison), meaning "put behind lines (bars)" – Latin root is of a lattice or grid. Related to cancel (cross out with lines) and chancel (area behind a lattice).

See also carcerate and cancer.

Pronunciation edit

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ɪnˈkɑː.səˌɹeɪt/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ɪnˈkɑɹ.səˌɹeɪt/
  • (file)

Verb edit

incarcerate (third-person singular simple present incarcerates, present participle incarcerating, simple past and past participle incarcerated)

  1. (chiefly US) To lock away; to imprison, especially for breaking the law.
    • 2013 September 23, Masha Gessen, “Life in a Russian Prison”, in New York Times, retrieved 24 September 2013:
      Tolokonnikova has also been an effective public speaker even while incarcerated, but she has spoken out on politics and freedom in general rather than prisoners’ rights.
  2. To confine; to shut up or enclose; to hem in.

Usage notes edit

As a Latinate term, somewhat formal, compared to imprison. However, the term is, even in casual settings, used chiefly and frequently in the United States.

Synonyms edit

Derived terms edit

Related terms edit

Translations edit

Adjective edit

incarcerate (not comparable)

  1. (archaic) Incarcerated.
    • 1642, H[enry] M[ore], “ΨΥΧΑΘΑΝΑΣΙΑ [Psychathanasia] Platonica: Or A Platonicall Poem of the Immortality of Souls, Especially Mans Soul”, in ΨΥΧΩΔΙΑ [Psychōdia] Platonica: Or A Platonicall Song of the Soul, [], Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: [] Roger Daniel, printer to the Universitie, →OCLC, book 1, canto 2, stanza 20, page 13:
      Nor is that radiant force in humane kind / Extinguiſht quite, he that did them create / Can thoſe dull ruſty chains of ſleep unbind, / And rear the ſoul unto her ſristin ſtate: / He can them ſo inlarge and elevate / And ſpreaden out, that they can compaſſe all, / When they no longer be incarcerate / In this dark dungeon, this foul fleſhy wall, / Nor be no longer wedg’d in things corporeall: []
    • 1698, John Nisbet of Dirleton, Some Doubts & Questions, in the Law; Especially of Scotland. As Also, Some Decisions of the Lords of Council and Session: [], Edinburgh: [] George Mosman, [], page 146:
      [] Mr. Vanſe, Keeper of the Tolbooth, did give in a Bill, repreſenting, That there being ſo great a number of Priſoners, upon account of Conventicles, and for Criminal Cauſes, and the ſaid Captain being incarcerate, not for a Crime, but for not finding Caution, he was in bona fide not to look upon him as a Perſon that would eſcape: []
    • 1707, [James Renwick], An Informatory Vindication of a Poor, Wasted, Misrepresented, Remnant of the Suffering, Anti-Popish, Anti-Prelatick, Anti-Erastian, Anti-Sectarian, True Presbyterian Church of Christ in Scotland: [], page 14:
      Being Incarcerat he put forth a Blaſphemous Paper, not only condemning all the work of Reformation, but alſo the Engliſh Bible in the form as it is now extant; []
    • 1732, John Louthian, The Form of Process before the Court of Justiciary in Scotland; Containing the Constitution of the Sovereign Criminal Court, and the Way and Manner of Their Procedure: [], Edinburgh: [] Robert Fleming and Company, for William Hamilton, [], pages 71 and 73:
      THat where I being incarcerate within the ſaid Tolbooth, by Warrand of the Lord Juſtice Clerk, for the Crime of Murder alledged committed by me, [] humbly ſhewing, That where, he being incarcerate within the Tolbooth of Edinburgh, by Warrant of the Lord Juſtice Clerk, for the Crime of Muther committed by him, []
    • 1833, Joseph P. Bartrum, The Psalms, Newly Paraphrased for the Service of the Sanctuary. [], Boston, Mass.: Russell, Odiorne, and Company, page 76:
      While incarcerate below, / Prayer with every breath shall flow; / Praise, expiring on my tongue, / Live anew in holier song, / Where my soul, its trial past, / Perfect joy shall reap at last!

Further reading edit

Italian edit

Verb edit

incarcerate

  1. inflection of incarcerare:
    1. second-person plural present indicative
    2. second-person plural imperative
    3. feminine plural past participle

Anagrams edit