confine
See also: confiné
English edit
Etymology edit
From Middle French confiner, from confins, from Medieval Latin confines, from Latin confinium, from confīnis.
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
confine (third-person singular simple present confines, present participle confining, simple past and past participle confined)
- (obsolete) To have a common boundary with; to border on. [16th–19th c.]
- 1667, John Milton, “Book II”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
- Where your gloomy bounds / Confine with heaven
- 1717, John Dryden, “Book XII”, in Ovid’s Metamorphoses in Fifteen Books. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
- Betwixt heaven and earth and skies there stands a place / Confining on all three.
- 1791, James Boswell, Life of Johnson, Oxford, published 2008, page 467:
- ‘Why, Sir, to be sure, such parts of Sclavonia as confine with Germany, will borrow German words; and such parts as confine with Tartary will borrow Tartar words.’
- (transitive) To restrict (someone or something) to a particular scope or area; to keep in or within certain bounds. [from 17th c.]
- c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:
- Now let not nature's hand / Keep the wild flood confined! let order die!
- 1680, John Dryden, Ovid’s Epistles translated by several hands, London: Jacob Tonson, Preface,[1]
- He is to confine himself to the compass of numbers and the slavery of rhyme.
Translations edit
to restrict; to keep within bounds
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detain — see detain
lock up — see lock up
arrest — see arrest
imprison — see imprison
incarcerate — see incarcerate
Noun edit
confine (plural confines)
- (chiefly in the plural) A boundary or limit.
- (poetic) Confinement, imprisonment.
- a. 1917, anonymous, “Lord Bateman” (folk song) as published in Bertrand Harris Bronson (1959) The Traditional Tunes of the Child Ballads, vol. 1, p. 419:
- She says for you to bring her a slice of cake,
A bottle of the best wine,
And not to forget the fair young lady
That did release you from close confine.
- She says for you to bring her a slice of cake,
- a. 1917, anonymous, “Lord Bateman” (folk song) as published in Bertrand Harris Bronson (1959) The Traditional Tunes of the Child Ballads, vol. 1, p. 419:
Synonyms edit
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
limit
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French edit
Pronunciation edit
- IPA(key): /kɔ̃.fin/
- Homophones: confinent, confines
Verb edit
confine
- inflection of confiner:
Galician edit
Verb edit
confine
- inflection of confinar:
Italian edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
confine m (plural confini)
Synonyms edit
Related terms edit
Latin edit
Adjective edit
cōnfīne
Portuguese edit
Verb edit
confine
- inflection of confinar:
Spanish edit
Verb edit
confine
- inflection of confinar:
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- Rhymes:Italian/ine
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