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Origin and history of confinement

confinement(n.)

1620s, "state of being confined; any restraint by force, necessity, or obstacle," from French confinement (16c.; the Old French word was confinacion), from confiner "to border; to shut up, enclose" (see confine).

As "restraint from going abroad by childbirth," perhaps a euphemism for childbed it dates from 1774 (the Middle English expression was Our Lady's bands). To be confined "be unable to leave the house or bed from sickness or childbirth" is attested from 1772.

also from 1620s

Entries linking to confinement

confine(v.)

1520s, "to border on, have a common boundary," a sense now obsolete, from French confiner "to border; to shut up, enclose," which is perhaps from the noun confins (see confines) or from Medieval Latin confinare "border on; set bounds." Sense of "restrict within bounds, keep within limits" is from 1590s. Related: Confined; confining.

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    labor
    c. 1300, "a task, a project" (such as the labors of Hercules); later "exertion of the body; trouble, difficulty, hardship" (late 14c.), from Old French labor "toil, work, exertion, task; tribulation, suffering" (12c., Modern French labeur), from Latin labor "toil, exertion; hards
    travail
    "labor, toil," mid-13c., from Old French travail "work, labor, toil, suffering or painful effort, trouble; arduous journey" (12c.), from travailler "to toil, labor," originally "to trouble, torture, torment," from Vulgar Latin *tripaliare "to torture," from *tripalium (in Late La
    restriction
    early 15c., restriccioun, "a cessation, the property of staunching bleeding," from Old French restriction (14c.) and directly from Late Latin restrictionem (nominative restrictio) "limitation," noun of action from past-participle stem of Latin restringere "restrict, bind fast, re
    prison
    late Old English, prisoun, "place of confinement or involuntary restraint, dungeon, jail," from Old French prisoun "captivity...In early use often "captivity, the condition of being in captivity or confinement;" hence, by extension, "a place for captives..., a public building for confinement or safe custody of criminals and others committed by legal process," the main modern...
    solitary
    Solitary confinement "separate confinement of a prisoner with limited access of other persons" is by 1690s; short form solitary...
    escapade
    1650s, "an escape from confinement," from French escapade (16c.)...
    detention
    Sense of "confinement, restraint, state of being detained" is by 1570s (in reference to Mary Queen of Scots)....
    constraint
    late 14c., constreinte, "distress, oppression," a sense now obsolete, from Old French constreinte "binding, constraint, compulsion" (Modern French contrainte), fem. noun from constreint, past participle of constreindre, from Vulgar Latin *constrinctus, from Latin constrictus, pas
    incarceration
    "fact of being imprisoned," 1530s, from Medieval Latin incarcerationem (nominative incarceratio), noun of action from past-participle stem of incarcerare "to imprison," from in- "in" (from PIE root *en "in") + carcer "prison, an enclosed space," from Proto-Italic *kar-kr(o)-, whi
    specification
    1610s, "act of investing with some quality," from Medieval Latin specificationem (nominative specificatio), noun of action from past-participle stem of Late Latin specificare "mention particularly," from Latin specificus (see specific). The meaning "technical particular, article,

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