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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
Kaley Johnson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 16 Dec. 2025
But also, our community has a problem with law-abiding citizens being incarcerated under the guise that this is effective violence [prevention].
—Dorothy Tucker, CBS News, 15 Dec. 2025
People who have been incarcerated, have actually been outside of incarceration, and have worked with people who are transitioning back into society.
—Preezy Brown, VIBE.com, 15 Dec. 2025
But the fact is that Black people are policed differently, sentenced differently, and imprisoned differently from non-Black Americans, who are also over-surveilled, over-incarcerated, and living in a virtual police state.
—Literary Hub, 12 Dec. 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 19 Dec. 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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