# prison
## English

* This entry needs quotations to illustrate usage. If you come across any interesting, durably archived quotes then please add them!

### Etymology

From Middle English prisoun, prison, a borrowing from Old French prison, from Latin prehensiōnem, accusative singular of prehensiō, from the verb prehendō. Doublet of prehension.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈpɹɪzən/, [pʰɹ̠̊ɪzn̩]
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɪzən

### Noun

prison (countable and uncountable, plural prisons)
* A place or institution where people are held against their will, in the US especially for long-term confinement, as of those convicted of serious crimes or otherwise considered undesirable by the government.
    Synonyms: bridewell, big house; see also Thesaurus:prison
    Hypernyms: correctional facility, correctional institution
    Hyponyms: panopticon, dungeon
    Coordinate terms: gaol, jail, slammer, hoosegow
    The cold stone walls of the prison had stood for over a century.
* (uncountable) Confinement in prison.
    Synonym: imprisonment
    Prison was a harrowing experience for him.
* (colloquial, figurative) Any restrictive environment, such as a harsh academy or home.
    The academy was a prison for many of its students because of its strict teachers.

#### Derived terms

* debtors' prison
* dispersal prison
* imprison
* in prison
* military prison
* open prison
* passport prison
* post prison
* Prislam
* prison bars
* prison base
* prison bitch
* prison-bound
* prison break
* prison camp
* prison cell
* prison chaser
* prisoner
* prison farm
* prison fever
* prison gay
* prison governor
* prison guard
* prisonhouse
* prison house
* prison-industrial complex
* prison labor
* prison officer
* prison pocket
* prison psychosis
* prison purse
* prison record
* prison ring
* prison sentence
* prison state
* prison wall
* prison wallet
* prison warden
* prison wife
* prison wine

#### Translations
### Verb

prison (third-person singular simple present prisons, present participle prisoning, simple past and past participle prisoned)
* (transitive) To imprison.

#### Translations
### Further reading

* “prison”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

### Anagrams

* porins, prions, proins, ripons, spinor

## French
### Etymology

Inherited from Old French prison, inherited from Latin prehēnsiōnem, from prehendō. Doublet of préhension.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /pʁi.zɔ̃/
* Audio:(file)

### Noun

prison f (plural prisons)
* prison
    Synonyms: emprisonnement, taule, geôle, enclos

#### Derived terms

* aimable comme une porte de prison
* emprisonner
* prison dorée
* prisonnier

### Further reading

* “prison”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

### Anagrams

* prions, ripons

## Haitian Creole
### Etymology

From French prison (“prison”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /pɣisɔ̃/

### Noun

prison
* prison

## Norman
### Etymology

From Old French prison, from Latin prehensiō, prehensiōnem (“seizing, apprehending, arresting, capturing”).

### Noun

prison f (plural prisons)
* (Jersey) prison

#### Related terms

* emprisonner, mettre en prison (“to imprison”)

## Old French
### Alternative forms

* prisoun (less common)
* prisun (less common)

### Etymology

From Latin prehensiō, prehensiōnem, from prehendō.

### Noun

prison oblique singular, f (oblique plural prisons, nominative singular prison, nominative plural prisons)
* prison
** c. 1200, Aucassin et Nicolette:Por vos sui en prison mis dans ce celier sousterinFor you, I have been put in this prison in this underground cellar

### Noun

prison oblique singular, m (oblique plural prisons, nominative singular prisons, nominative plural prison)
* prisoner

#### Derived terms

* prisonnier

#### Descendants

* Middle French:
** French: prison
* Norman: prison (Jersey)
* → Middle English: prisoun, prison, prisun, prisen, pryson, prisone
** English: prison
** Scots: preeson
* → Old Galician-Portuguese: prison, priiom, prijon
** Galician: prisión
** Portuguese: prisão

## Old Galician-Portuguese
### Alternative forms

* priiom, prijon

### Etymology

Borrowed from Old French prison, from Latin prehēnsiō, from prehendō + -tiō.

### Noun

prison f (plural *prisones)
* prison (place of long-term confinement)
    Synonym: cadea

#### Descendants

* Galician: prisión
* Portuguese: prisão

### References

* Manuel Ferreiro (2014–2025) “prison”, in Universo Cantigas. Edición crítica da poesía medieval galego-portuguesa (in Galician), A Coruña: University of A Coruña, →ISSN
* Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “prison”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
* Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “prison”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega