internment

noun

in·​tern·​ment in-ˈtərn-mənt How to pronounce internment (audio)
ˈin-ˌtərn-
plural internments
: the act of interning someone or the state of being interned
His parents had never told him about the exclusion laws, or the internment of Japanese-Americans, and the subject had not come up in his textbooks.Timothy Egan
Even in the midst of betrayal and the resulting alienation experienced in the internment, there exists the unnegotiable state of human bonds and possibility for reconciliation.Fumitaka Matsuoka
… an American who spent World War II with his parents in an internment camp.Philip Siekman

Examples of internment in a Sentence

the internment of Americans of Japanese descent during World War II is one of the more shameful chapters in United States history
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
At the same time, the United States and Western allies have accused Xi of overseeing widespread human rights abuses, even claims of genocide, against the nation's Uyghurs through the use of mass internment camps, a charge the Chinese leader and his government have vehemently denied. Stephan Pechdimaldji, Newsweek, 14 Dec. 2024 Their strategy resulted in Trump downplaying China’s crackdown against protesters in Hong Kong, expressing support for its internment camps in Xinjiang, offering to lift export controls on Huawei and ZTE, and even accepting a trade deal that did not address China’s industrial policy practices. Rush Doshi, Foreign Affairs, 29 Nov. 2024 Keefe’s book also covers Adams’ internment at Long Kesh (later HMP Maze) from 1973 to 1977, his close friendship with cellmate Hughes, and pseudonymous authorship of a long-running column in An Phoblacht, the IRA newspaper of which Sinn Féin later assumed publication. Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 16 Nov. 2024 Some experts on this historical time period say Trump's mass deportation plans have echoes of the widespread internments during World War II, in which more than 100,000 Japanese Americans, many of them U.S. citizens like Takei's family, were forcibly detained in prison camps. Karen Weintraub, USA TODAY, 3 Nov. 2024 See all Example Sentences for internment 

Word History

First Known Use

1850, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of internment was in 1850

Dictionary Entries Near internment

Cite this Entry

“Internment.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/internment. Accessed 23 Dec. 2024.

Kids Definition

internment

noun
in·​tern·​ment
in-ˈtərn-mənt,
ˈin-ˌtərn-
: the act of interning : the state of being interned

More from Merriam-Webster on internment

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!