quarantine

noun quar·an·tine \ ˈkwȯr-ən-ˌtēn , ˈkwär- \

Updated on: 14 Apr 2018

1 : a period of 40 days

2 a : a term during which a ship arriving in port and suspected of carrying contagious disease is held in isolation from the shore

b : a regulation placing a ship in quarantine

c : a place where a ship is detained during quarantine

3 a : a restraint upon the activities or communication of persons or the transport of goods designed to prevent the spread of disease or pests

b : a place in which those under quarantine are kept

4 : a state of enforced isolation

See quarantine defined for English-language learners

See quarantine defined for kids

Examples of quarantine in a Sentence

The infected people were put into quarantine.
The cows will be kept in quarantine for another week.
The dog was put under quarantine.

Recent Examples of quarantine from the Web

Both sites were placed under quarantine March 8, meaning no animals could be moved off the properties.

— paul a. smith, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Smith: Transferred Kewaskum deer cause CWD concerns in Bayfield County," 4 Apr. 2018
The area under quarantine includes 26 parishes and portions of 10 parishes.

— tristan baurick, NOLA.com, "Emergency quarantine declared for pest that's decimating Louisiana wetlands," 27 Mar. 2018
According to the zoo, Suka is under quarantine, but the polar bears soon will be paired, as breeding season is underway.

— USA TODAY, "Suka, meet Nuka. Detroit Zoo plays matchmaker for polar bears," 7 Mar. 2018
However, her government was criticized for its initially slow response to the Ebola epidemic and its heavy-handed tactics, including a military quarantine of West Point, the largest slum in the capital, Monrovia.

— clair macdougall, New York Times, "Ibrahim Prize for African Leadership Goes to Liberia’s Ellen Johnson Sirleaf," 12 Feb. 2018
The firewood quarantine alone might not be enough to prevent the spread of the ALB.

— sheila vilvens, Cincinnati.com, "Government celebrates clearing 5 miles of beetle infestation... out of 60 quarantined miles," 19 Mar. 2018
Due to concerns the deadly deer disease could have been transported along with the live animals, DATCP placed a quarantine on the northwestern Wisconsin property, too.

— paul a. smith, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "CWD-positive Kewaskum deer farm linked to Bayfield County concerns," 17 Mar. 2018
About 1,100 people, some non-security personnel, were still in quarantine on Thursday.

— beth mole, Ars Technica, "Alarm grows as norovirus outbreak explodes at Olympics; cases quadruple in days," 8 Feb. 2018
At the height of the pandemic, quarantines were instituted in many cities.

— richard gunderman, Smithsonian, "Ten Myths About the 1918 Flu Pandemic," 12 Jan. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'quarantine.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of quarantine

partly modification of French quarantaine, from Old French, from quarante forty, from Latin quadraginta, from quadra- (akin to quattuor four) + -ginta (akin to viginti twenty); partly modification of Italian quarantena quarantine of a ship, from quaranta forty, from Latin quadraginta — more at four, vigesimal

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1617

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

Other Number-Related Terms

jubilee, myriad, score, twain

quarantine

verb

quarantined; quarantining

transitive verb

1 : to detain in or exclude by quarantine

2 : to isolate from normal relations or communication

quarantine an aggressor

intransitive verb

: to establish or declare a quarantine

See quarantine defined for English-language learners

Examples of quarantine in a Sentence

The hospital quarantined the infected patients.
The dog was immediately quarantined.

Recent Examples of quarantine from the Web

The dog, its name and gender not available Monday, was being quarantined because of four dog bite attacks, the most recent incident occurring on Jan. 20 when two juveniles were injured, police said.

— bill leukhardt, courant.com, "Biting Dog Sprung From Doggie Jail," 9 Apr. 2018
So long as China quarantines its financial system from the rest of the world, talk of a petroyuan replacing the petrodollar will be premature.

— The Economist, "China wants to reshape the global oil market," 28 Mar. 2018
Maybe we are being quarantined, and UFOs are dronelike documentarians recording an intergalactic Planet Earth miniseries.

— lee billings, Scientific American, "It’s Never Aliens—until It Is," 9 Jan. 2018
Getting them soaking early on will make your clean-up easier, and quarantining them prevents a spoon covered in tomato paste from contaminating an otherwise almost-clean, easy-to-wash dish.

— sarah jampel, Bon Appetit, "14 Ways to Make Fewer Dirty Dishes (Because Washing Them Sucks, OBVS)," 19 Mar. 2018
If the proposal is approved, the Florida whooping cranes will be captured, given a health assessment and quarantined for at least 30 days, Ranson said.

— sara sneath, NOLA.com, "14 endangered whooping cranes may be moved from Florida to Louisiana," 15 Mar. 2018
There is a chance that Irgo may need to be quarantined for up to two weeks in Japan due to traveling on an international flight.

— CBS News, "United Airlines mistakenly flies Kansas-bound German shepherd to Japan," 14 Mar. 2018
Those who contract the disease will be quarantined while they are treated.

— rachel axon, USA TODAY, "Number of people with vomit illness symptoms grows at 2018 Olympic Games," 7 Feb. 2018
As is, the museum has a variety of pest-control tactics, including quarantining new artwork before it is placed in galleries.

— daniel victor, The Seattle Times, "Boston museum tries new system for protecting artwork: a dog’s nose," 13 Jan. 2018

First Known Use of quarantine

1801

in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

QUARANTINE Defined for English Language Learners

quarantine

noun

: the period of time during which a person or animal that has a disease or that might have a disease is kept away from others to prevent the disease from spreading
: the situation of being kept away from others to prevent a disease from spreading

quarantine

verb

: to keep (a person or animal) away from others to prevent a disease from spreading : to put or keep (a person or animal) in quarantine

QUARANTINE Defined for Kids

quarantine

noun quar·an·tine \ ˈkwȯr-ən-ˌtēn \

1 : isolation of people, animals, or things (as plants) out of a certain area to prevent the spread of disease or pests

2 : a period during which a person or animal with a contagious disease is isolated

3 : a place (as a hospital) where a person or animal with a contagious disease is isolated

History for quarantine

Centuries ago people in Europe did not have a good understanding of infectious diseases. But experience taught them that when ships arrived in port and brought strangers, illness would sometimes follow. In Venice, a port in Italy, the practice developed of holding a ship in the harbor for forty days if the passengers were suspected of carrying disease, especially plague. If no one developed signs of illness, the passengers were let ashore. The word for this period of forty days was in Italian quarantena, a derivative of quaranta, “forty,” and it is a source of the English word quarantine.

quarantine

verb

quarantined; quarantining

: to put or hold in isolation to prevent the spread of disease or pests The infected patient was quarantined.

Medical Dictionary

quarantine

noun quar·an·tine \ ˈkwȯr-ən-ˌtēn, ˈkwär- \

1 a : a term during which a ship arriving in port and suspected of carrying contagious disease is held in isolation from the shore

b : a regulation placing a ship in quarantine

c : a place where a ship is detained during quarantine

2 a : a restraint upon the activities or communication of persons or the transport of goods that is designed to prevent the spread of disease or pests

b : a place in which those under quarantine are kept