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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
Matthew Carey, Deadline, 14 Oct. 2025
Exantus is currently incarcerated in a Marion County jail without bond.
—Mason Leath, ABC News, 13 Oct. 2025
He is incarcerated in the El Dorado Correctional Facility in El Dorado, Kansas, serving 10 consecutive life sentences.
—Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 11 Oct. 2025
She was found guilty in 1987 of Kelly’s first-degree murder and received two life sentences, becoming the youngest female ever incarcerated in the state’s prisons.
—Johnny Dodd, PEOPLE, 10 Oct. 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 17 Oct. 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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