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Just as English is full of nouns referring to places where prisoners are confined, from the familiar (jail and prison) to the obscure (calaboose and bridewell), so we have multiple verbs for the action of putting people behind bars. Some words can be used as both nouns and verbs, if in slightly different forms: one can be jailed in a jail, imprisoned in a prison, locked up in a lockup, or even jugged in a jug. Incarcerate does not have such a noun equivalent in English—incarceration refers to the state of confinement rather than a physical structure—but it comes ultimately from the Latin noun carcer, meaning “prison.” Incarcerate is also on the formal end of the spectrum when it comes to words related to the law and criminal justice, meaning you are more likely to read or hear about someone incarcerated in a penitentiary or detention center than in the pokey or hoosegow.
Examples of incarcerate in a Sentence
Justyna Rzewinski, New York Daily News, 21 May 2025
In the early predawn hours of Friday, May 16, no sheriff's deputy was assigned to the part of the jail where the escaped inmates were incarcerated, and a civilian worker monitoring the area had briefly stepped away to get food, according to the sheriff's office.
—Alex Sundby, CBS News, 21 May 2025
While some have been released, hundreds remain incarcerated under conditions deliberately engineered to break their will.
—Antonio Maria Delgado, Miami Herald, 20 May 2025
The Office of the Maryland State Prosecutor subsequently prosecuted McCollum and, after pleading guilty to felony theft scheme and perjury, he was incarcerated.
—Emmet C. Davitt, Baltimore Sun, 19 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for incarcerate
Cite this Entry
“Incarcerate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/incarcerate. Accessed 30 May. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
incarcerate
verb
Legal Definition
incarcerate
transitive verb
Latin incarceratus, past participle of incarcerare, from in- in + carcer prison
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