Hoosgow

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A term used informally to refer to a jail or prison where people are confined as punishment or while awaiting trial
2. Slang for a place of detention such as a jail where individuals are held under legal authority
3. An informal word denoting a correctional facility used to incarcerate individuals convicted or accused of crimes

Etymology: The Spanish word "juzgado" means "court" or "courthouse," and it came into American English through the speech of the Southwest, where Spanish was widely spoken. In informal spoken American Spanish it was worn down to "juzgao," and English speakers heard and reshaped that form into "hoosegow," which is now the more familiar spelling. The alternate "hoosgow" drops the middle vowel, and both forms point back to the same Spanish root. The shift in meaning is the striking part. A word for a place where a judge sat and cases were heard became slang for the place where those judged were locked up. The court and the cell ended up as one word, because the two were parts of the same legal process. The "hoosegow" spelling lasted, and the sense of a jail has stayed fixed since then.

Synonyms: jail, prison, lockup, detention center, correctional facility

Antonyms: freedom, liberty, release, exoneration, acquittal