internment

noun

in·​tern·​ment in-ˈtərn-mənt 

ˈin-ˌtərn-

plural internments

: the act of interning someone or the state of being interned

His parents had never told him about the exclusion laws, or the internment of Japanese-Americans, and the subject had not come up in his textbooks.

—Timothy Egan

Even in the midst of betrayal and the resulting alienation experienced in the internment, there exists the unnegotiable state of human bonds and possibility for reconciliation.

—Fumitaka Matsuoka

… an American who spent World War II with his parents in an internment camp.

—Philip Siekman

Synonyms

• captivity
• confinement
• immurement
• impoundment
• imprisonment
• incarceration
• prison

Examples of internment in a Sentence

the internment of Americans of Japanese descent during World War II is one of the more shameful chapters in United States history

Recent Examples on the Web

America had just spent four years fighting Italy, and though many Italian Americans had gone overseas to help, others were labelled enemy aliens and put in internment camps. —Al Pacino, The New Yorker, 26 Aug. 2024

In 1942, during World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which paved the way for the relocation and internment of people of Japanese ancestry, including U.S.-born citizens. —The Arizona Republic, 19 Feb. 2024

In a strange historical twist, the building now known as Yoshihiro Uchida Hall — San Jose State’s dojo for judo — was used as a Santa Clara County processing center for those going to internment camps. —Elliott Almond, The Mercury News, 28 June 2024

The fact that a core region of President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative is littered with internment camps is not a pretty picture to convey to the global community. —Adrian Zenz, Foreign Affairs, 20 June 2018

Word History

First Known Use

1850, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

internment

noun

in·​tern·​ment

in-ˈtərn-mənt,

ˈin-ˌtərn-

: the act of interning : the state of being interned