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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
Sean Neumann, PEOPLE, 7 Oct. 2025
Were there a lot of women with children in the prison you were incarcerated in?
—Kansas City Star, 7 Oct. 2025
Many, if not most, of the attendees had previously been incarcerated.
—Jennifer Gonnerman, New Yorker, 6 Oct. 2025
Repeatedly failing to get bail or a new trial or acquittal, Combs has been teaching a life coach class to fellow inmates while incarcerated in Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center since September 2024.
—Dominic Patten, Deadline, 3 Oct. 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 13 Oct. 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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