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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
Molly Crane-Newman, New York Daily News, 5 Mar. 2026
The arrests have sparked fear among families of immigrants incarcerated at Elmwood.
—Caelyn Pender, Mercury News, 5 Mar. 2026
Sherlock himself has been incarcerated, much to the dismay of his older brother Mycroft (Max Irons), a civil servant who pulls a few strings to get Sherlock out of prison.
—Emily Zemler, Los Angeles Times, 4 Mar. 2026
Dorsey, who made history as DeKalb County's first Black sheriff, died Sunday while incarcerated in the Georgia prison system, bringing a dramatic and controversial chapter of metro Atlanta political history to a close.
—Zachary Bynum, CBS News, 4 Mar. 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 10 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
incarcerate
verb
Legal Definition
incarcerate
transitive verb
Latin incarceratus, past participle of incarcerare, from in- in + carcer prison
