quarantine

1 of 2

noun

quar·​an·​tine ˈkwȯr-ən-ˌtēn 

ˈkwär-

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

quarantine

2 of 2

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

Examples of quarantine in a Sentence

Noun

The infected people were put into quarantine.

The cows will be kept in quarantine for another week.

The dog was put under quarantine.

Verb

The hospital quarantined the infected patients.

The dog was immediately quarantined.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

After a yearlong quarantine, the staff at broadcaster UBA are back in the studio, though not quite to normal. —Alison Herman, Variety, 13 Sep. 2023

Interest in Catan surged during the pandemic, with sales skyrocketing as people played the game in quarantine. —Mark Kennedy, Fortune, 11 Sep. 2023

Throughout California, a number of quarantines are taking place, and insects are preying on some of the state’s most valuable produce. —Tori Latham, Robb Report, 8 Sep. 2023

The pandemic quarantine meant more hours online for just about everyone, including both Naomis. —Chris Vognar, Los Angeles Times, 5 Sep. 2023

The Black Beauty Club was first dreamed up on Clubhouse, the voice-only social media space that took off during the first months of quarantine. —Cassandra Pintro, Vogue, 30 Aug. 2023

Lola, 19, is an aspiring singer who will enter her sophomore year at NYU this fall, while her younger brother Joaquin, 17, used the quarantine to study up for college admissions tests. —Kate Coyne, Peoplemag, 28 Aug. 2023

As a result, the only way bison are able to safely leave Yellowstone is by completing an up to three-year quarantine that culminates at a testing facility in Fort Peck. —Adam Yamaguchi, CBS News, 25 Aug. 2023

Health officials are urging people to continue to take care to prevent spreading the virus to others, including periods of quarantine. —Leada Gore | [e-mail], al, 21 Aug. 2023

Verb

Asteroid City — Peacock Wes Anderson’s latest follows a group of parents and their talented kids quarantined in a 1950s desert town that’s interrupted by an extraterrestrial. —James Hibberd, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Sep. 2023

The pair even appeared to be spending the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic quarantining together. —Alex Gurley, Peoplemag, 17 Aug. 2023

Syria is simply too pivotal, geographically, economically, and politically, to be isolated and quarantined like an Arab North Korea. —Sam Heller, Foreign Affairs, 14 Aug. 2023

The couple quarantined together during the COVID-19 pandemic — along with Deschanel’s kids, Elsie Otter, now 8, and Charlie Wolf, now 6 (with ex-husband, Jacob Pechenik). —Gina Vivinetto, NBC News, 14 Aug. 2023

But the event is thrown into chaos when a bug-eyed alien briefly lands in a nearby meteor crater, leaving travelers quarantined as government officials scramble for answers. —Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY, 22 June 2023

Recent moves by North Korea, which closed its borders in early 2020 in response to the pandemic, have signaled that the country is reopening, but Pyongyang will still require even returning citizens to quarantine on arrival. —Irene Nasser, CNN, 27 Aug. 2023

In March 2023, Taiwan lifted its final pandemic restriction, allowing international travelers to visit without having to quarantine. —Amit Katwala, WIRED, 22 Aug. 2023

The cat was taken to a veterinary hospital where it was quarantined and subsequently died. —Leada Gore | [e-mail], al, 17 Aug. 2023

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Word History

Etymology

Noun

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

First Known Use

Noun

1617, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1801, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Phrases Containing quarantine

• self-quarantine

• self-quarantine

Kids Definition

quarantine

1 of 2 noun

quar·​an·​tine ˈkwȯr-ən-ˌtēn 

ˈkwär-

1

: a period during which a ship arriving in port and suspected of carrying contagious disease is forbidden contact with the shore

2

: a limiting or forbidding of movements of persons or goods that is designed to prevent the spread of disease or pests

3

: the period during which a person with a contagious disease is under quarantine

4

: a place where persons are kept in quarantine

quarantine

2 of 2 verb

quarantined; quarantining

: to put or hold in quarantine : isolate

Etymology

Noun

from Italian quarantena "quarantine, period of forty days," probably from early French quarantaine "period of forty days," from earlier quarante "forty," from Latin quadraginta "forty," from quadra- "four"

Word Origin

As bad as contagious diseases are today, they were much more frightening in the Middle Ages. No effective treatment or cure was known then. When it was found out that ships could carry diseases from port to port, authorities acted to protect their citizens. Any ship suspected of carrying a disease was forced to remain offshore for a time. Usually about forty days had to pass before it was allowed to dock. Then if no signs of disease were found on the ship, it was allowed to unload its passengers and cargo. The Italians called this restriction period quarantena. They based the word on a French word quarantaine, meaning "a period of forty days." This French word was derived from the Latin quadraginta, meaning "forty." It was the Italian word that was taken into English as quarantine in the 17th century.

Medical Definition

quarantine

1 of 2 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

quarantine

2 of 2 verb

quarantined; quarantining

transitive verb

: to detain in or exclude by quarantine

intransitive verb

: to establish or declare a quarantine