prisoner
UK /ˈpɹɪzənə/ · US /ˈpɹɪzənɚ/ noun
Forms prisoners
- noun A person incarcerated in a prison, while on trial or serving a sentence. “Two other prisoners were staying in the same cell as him.”
- noun Any person held against their will.
- noun A person who is or feels confined or trapped by a situation or a set of circumstances. “I am no longer a prisoner to fear, for I am a child of God.”
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English prisoner, from Old French prisonier (compare Medieval Latin prisōnārius), equivalent to prison + -er.
Webster’s 1913
- noun One who is confined in a prison. Piers Plowman.
- noun A person under arrest, or in custody, whether in prison or not; a person held in involuntary restraint; a captive; as, a prisoner at the bar of a court. Bouvier.
Etymology [F. prisonnier.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “prisoner”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details