Compters

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Small prisons or detention facilities traditionally used for short-term confinement; also refers to the rooms or chambers within such institutions where prisoners are held; or metaphorically, any place of confinement or strict control
2. Places of incarceration typically employed for brief stays; enclosed spaces designated for holding detainees temporarily; or extended to describe restrictive environments where individuals are confined
3. Facilities involving brief-term imprisonment; cells or compartments within correctional buildings for detaining persons; alternately, any setting characterized by enforced confinement or control

Etymology: In London, a "compter" was a local prison, and the name had nothing to do with confinement at first. The singular is related to "counter" in the old sense of a reckoning table or accounting office, which comes through Old French "conter", to count, from Latin "computare". Debts were likely settled at such counting-houses, and the place took on the name of the reckoning. The plural "compters" refers to the several such prisons in the city, each serving its own district. Because they mostly held debtors and minor offenders, the word came to mean a place of custody, so a term for counting money ended up naming the places where people who owed it were held.

Synonyms: compters