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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
Fidel Martinez, Los Angeles Times, 25 Apr. 2025
After her first business venture, Nowlan got involved with Defy Ventures, a program for formerly incarcerated people.
—Esha Chhabra, Forbes.com, 24 Apr. 2025
The Salvadoran leader did not say whether the prisoners would be incarcerated again upon an exchange.
—USA Today, 22 Apr. 2025
Some of the roughly eighty women who remained incarcerated on the island participated in the exhibition, their inclusion meant to reflect Francis’s embrace of dialogue, solidarity, and fraternity.
—News Desk, Artforum, 22 Apr. 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 2 May. 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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