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Origin and history of imprison

imprison(v.)

c. 1300, from Old French emprisoner "imprison; be in prison" (12c.), from assimilated form of in- "in" (from PIE root *en "in") + prison (see prison). Formerly also emprison. Related: Imprisoned; imprisoning.

also from c. 1300

Entries linking to imprison

prison(n.)

late Old English, prisoun, "place of confinement or involuntary restraint, dungeon, jail," from Old French prisoun "captivity, imprisonment; prison; prisoner, captive" (11c., Modern French prison), altered (by influence of pris "taken;" see prize (n.2)) from earlier preson, from Vulgar Latin *presionem, from Latin prensionem (nominative prensio), shortening of prehensionem (nominative *prehensio) "a taking," noun of action from past-participle stem of prehendere "to take" (from prae- "before," see pre-, + -hendere, from PIE root *ghend- "to seize, take").

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 sense.

imprisonment(n.)

late 14c., from Anglo-French emprisonement (13c.), Old French emprisonnement "capture, imprisonment" (13c.), from emprisoner (see imprison).

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lag
"move slowly, fail to keep pace," 1520s, earlier as a noun meaning "last person" (1510s), later also as an adjective, "slow, tardy, coming behind" (1550s, as in lag-mon "last man"). All are of uncertain relationship and origin, possibly from a Scandinavian source (compare Norwegi
jail
c. 1300 (c. 1200 in surnames) "a jail, prison; a birdcage." The form in j- is from Middle English jaile, from Old French jaiole "a cage; a prison," from Medieval Latin gabiola "a cage," from Late Latin caveola, diminutive of Latin cavea "a cage, enclosure, stall, coop; a hollow p
jug
"deep vessel for carrying liquids, usually with a handle or ear," late 15c., jugge, variant of jubbe (late 14c.), a word of unknown origin. Perhaps it is from jug "a low woman, a maidservant" (mid-16c.), a familiar alteration of Jug, a common personal name such as Joan or Judith.
send-up
In U.S. slang, send up could mean "convict of crime and imprison" (1852), and in 19c. nautical language it meant "hoist (...
incarceration
from Medieval Latin incarcerationem (nominative incarceratio), noun of action from past-participle stem of incarcerare "to imprison...
snow
The figurative sense of "overwhelm; surround, cover, and imprison" (as heavy snows can bury livestock in the field) is 1880...
remand
mid-15c., remaunden, "to send (something) back," from Anglo-French remaunder, Old French remander "send for again" (12c.) or directly from Late Latin remandare "to send back word, repeat a command," from Latin re- "back" (see re-) + mandare "to consign, order, commit to one's cha
gaol
see jail (n.), you tea-sodden football hooligan. Formerly in official use in Britain, and thus sometimes regarded in U.S. as a characteristic British spelling (though George Washington used it); by the time of OED 2nd edition (1980s) both spellings were considered correct there;
goal
1530s, "end point of a race," of uncertain origin. It appears once before this (as gol), in a poem from early 14c. and with an apparent sense of "boundary, limit." Perhaps from Old English *gal "obstacle, barrier," a word implied by gælan "to hinder" and also found in compounds (
detain
early 15c. (implied in deteined), "keep back or away, withhold," from Old French detenir "to hold off, keep back" (12c.), from Latin detinere "hold off, keep back," from de "from, away" (see de-) + tenere "to hold" (from PIE root *ten- "to stretch"). Legal sense of "to hold in cu

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