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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
Hannah Parry, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Sep. 2025
Battle was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in 2009 and has been incarcerated for 19 years.
—Daniel Lempres, Sacbee.com, 31 Aug. 2025
His sister introduced him to Second Chance Studios, a nonprofit that trains formerly incarcerated people for media careers.
—Kimberly Wilson, Essence, 30 Aug. 2025
So many good kids end up incarcerated as adults because no one shows them right from wrong, Miller told the Courier Journal.
—Maggie Menderski, The Courier-Journal, 29 Aug. 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 9 Sep. 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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