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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
Michael Hill, Los Angeles Times, 11 Mar. 2025
Atkins married twice while incarcerated: first to Donald Lee Laisure from 1981 to 1982, and later to Whitehouse, the attorney who represented her in parole hearings, in 1987.
—Monica Mercuri, Forbes, 10 Mar. 2025
The city’s decision to use 12 hotels in the area as temporary housing for people, some of whom were struggling with mental and addiction issues, or who had been incarcerated, impacted the landscape of the neighborhood, which had lost many office workers due to pandemic lockdowns.
—Rosemary Feitelberg, WWD, 7 Mar. 2025
Weinstein — who is currently incarcerated in New York — and the 48-year-old fashion designer wed in 2007 and welcomed two children together: daughter India, 14, and son Dashiell, 11.
—Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 4 Mar. 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 25 Mar. 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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