Definition of quarantine
1 : a period of 40 days
2a : a term during which a ship arriving in port and suspected of carrying contagious disease is held in isolation from the shoreb : a regulation placing a ship in quarantinec : a place where a ship is detained during quarantine
3a : a restraint upon the activities or communication of persons or the transport of goods designed to prevent the spread of disease or pestsb : a place in which those under quarantine are kept
4 : a state of enforced isolation
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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.
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
First Known Use: 1617
quarantine
Definition of quarantine
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
The hospital quarantined the infected patients.
The dog was immediately quarantined.
1801
First Known Use of quarantine
1801
QUARANTINE Defined for English Language Learners
quarantine
playDefinition of quarantine for English Language Learners
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: 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
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: the situation of being kept away from others to prevent a disease from spreading
quarantine
Definition of quarantine for English Language Learners
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: 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
Definition of quarantine for Students
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.
Definition of quarantine for Students
quarantined
;quarantining
: to put or hold in isolation to prevent the spread of disease or pests The infected patient was quarantined.
Medical Dictionary
Medical Definition of quarantine
1a: a term during which a ship arriving in port and suspected of carrying contagious disease is held in isolation from the shoreb: a regulation placing a ship in quarantinec: a place where a ship is detained during quarantine
2a: a restraint upon the activities or communication of persons or the transport of goods that is designed to prevent the spread of disease or pestsb: a place in which those under quarantine are kept
quarantine
Medical Definition of quarantine
quarantined
;quarantining
transitive verb
: to detain in or exclude by quarantineintransitive verb
: to establish or declare a quarantine
Learn More about quarantine
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See words that rhyme with quarantine Spanish Central: Translation of quarantine Nglish: Translation of quarantine for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of quarantine for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about quarantine
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