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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
Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 17 Apr. 2026
Prior to being incarcerated, Matsumoto’s grandparents owned a grocery store in downtown Los Angeles.
—Myrna Petlicki, Chicago Tribune, 16 Apr. 2026
The plan is to eventually close the island to incarcerated individuals in a decarceration plan, replacing it with four other jails in Manhattan, The Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn.
—Amethyst Martinez, USA Today, 15 Apr. 2026
The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday that they had never been contacted about incarcerated Mendoza Hernandez.
—Sharon Bernstein, Sacbee.com, 14 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for incarcerate
Cite this Entry
“Incarcerate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/incarcerate. Accessed 20 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
incarcerate
verb
Legal Definition
incarcerate
transitive verb
Latin incarceratus, past participle of incarcerare, from in- in + carcer prison
