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.
The United States has a shameful history of detaining and deporting citizens, from the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II to more recent cases. Thomas G. Moukawsher, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Apr. 2025 Musician and educator Harry Urata, confined to an internment camp after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, encountered Japanese-American workers who had processed sugar cane leaves on Hawaiian plantations since the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Paul Grein, Billboard, 9 Apr. 2025 Peterson's work is focused on a French internment camp that opened prior to World War I and why countries choose to detain people rather than monitor them out in society. Sarah D. Wire, USA Today, 5 Apr. 2025 In Kevin Nguyen’s gripping novel, the U.S. government sets up internment camps for citizens of Vietnamese ancestry following a wave of terrorist attacks. Meg Zukin, Los Angeles Times, 5 Apr. 2025 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

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Internment.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/internment. Accessed 24 Apr. 2025.

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!