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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
Kelly Davis, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 May 2026
Men from Hawaii and Montana are also incarcerated at the nearly 2,000-person facility.
—Alex Brizee, Idaho Statesman, 29 May 2026
Messina Denaro continued to receive cancer treatment while incarcerated at L'Aquila, but he was later moved to hospital in August that year, under heavy security.
—CBS News, 28 May 2026
On May 13, investigators with Dallas police traveled to Beeville, Texas, where Holloway is incarcerated, to get a DNA sample and interrogate him.
—Saleen Martin, USA Today, 28 May 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 5 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
incarcerate
verb
Legal Definition
incarcerate
transitive verb
Latin incarceratus, past participle of incarcerare, from in- in + carcer prison
