prison

[priz-uh n] /ˈprɪz ən/
noun
1.
a building for the confinement of persons held while awaiting trial, persons sentenced after conviction, etc.
2.
state prison.
3.
any place of confinement or involuntary restraint.
4.
imprisonment.
Origin
before 1150; Middle English prison, earlier prisun < Old French, variant of preson imprisonment, a prison < Latin pre(hē)nsiōn- (stem of prehēnsiō) a seizure, arrest, equivalent to prehēns(us) (past participle of prehendere to seize) + -iōn- -ion; doublet of prehension
Related forms
prisonlike, adjective
postprison, adjective
Can be confused
jail, prison.
Examples from the web for prison
  • The prison even gives inmates cakes on their birthdays.
  • They have no reason to lie as they are in prison for life.
  • Career- and technical-education programs serve a variety of learners, including high school students and prison inmates.
  • In prison you go in and you have to fight to defend yourself.
  • Rocky, are forced to rely on their abundant imaginations to create an epic version of their father while he's in prison.
  • prison did what it was supposed to do, and too rarely does: it turned someone from a tax burden into a taxpayer.
  • The officials now face sentences of up to six years in prison.
  • prison farming projects have shown to be a great way to improve self worth of inmates and reduce aggression.
  • Today we'll spend all day filming at our prison location.
  • While they are fascinating creatures they should not be kept in small prison cells.
British Dictionary definitions for prison

prison

/ˈprɪzən/
noun
1.
a public building used to house convicted criminals and accused persons remanded in custody and awaiting trial See also jail, penitentiary, reformatory
2.
any place of confinement or seeming confinement
Word Origin
C12: from Old French prisun, from Latin prēnsiō a capturing, from prehendere to lay hold of
Word Origin and History for prison
n.

early 12c., from Old French prisoun "captivity, imprisonment; prison; prisoner, captive" (11c., Modern French prison), altered (by influence of pris "taken;" see prize (n.2)) from earlier preson, from Vulgar Latin *presionem, from Latin prensionem (nominative prensio), shortening of prehensionem (nominative *prehensio) "a taking," noun of action from past participle stem of prehendere "to take" (see prehensile). "Captivity," hence by extension "a place for captives," the main modern sense.

v.

"to imprison," early 14c., from prison (n.) or Old French prisoner (v.). Related: Prisoned; prisoning.

prison in the Bible

The first occasion on which we read of a prison is in the history of Joseph in Egypt. Then Potiphar, "Joseph's master, took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king's prisoners were bound" (Gen. 39:20-23). The Heb. word here used (sohar) means properly a round tower or fortress. It seems to have been a part of Potiphar's house, a place in which state prisoners were kept. The Mosaic law made no provision for imprisonment as a punishment. In the wilderness two persons were "put in ward" (Lev. 24:12; Num. 15:34), but it was only till the mind of God concerning them should be ascertained. Prisons and prisoners are mentioned in the book of Psalms (69:33; 79:11; 142:7). Samson was confined in a Philistine prison (Judg. 16:21, 25). In the subsequent history of Israel frequent references are made to prisons (1 Kings 22:27; 2 Kings 17:4; 25:27, 29; 2 Chr. 16:10; Isa. 42:7; Jer. 32:2). Prisons seem to have been common in New Testament times (Matt. 11:2; 25:36, 43). The apostles were put into the "common prison" at the instance of the Jewish council (Acts 5:18, 23; 8:3); and at Philippi Paul and Silas were thrust into the "inner prison" (16:24; comp. 4:3; 12:4, 5).