Prisoners

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈpɹɪzənɚz/

Definitions

1. Individuals held in custody as captives or confined in a jail or prison facility
2. Persons detained and deprived of their freedom as a consequence of legal or wartime actions
3. Those kept under restraint by authority, typically in a correctional institution or as prisoners of war

Etymology: "Prisoners" is simply the plural of "prisoner", so its history is that of the singular form. The noun came into Middle English from Old French "prisonier", which was formed on "prison" with the agent ending "-ier" (later "-er" in English), meaning a person held in confinement. The French form drew on Medieval Latin "prisonarius", a word that shows the same pattern of a noun for a person connected to a place of confinement. The root "prison" itself came into English from Old French and ultimately from Latin "prensio", a seizing or grasping. Over time the sense moved from the act of taking hold of someone to the place where they were kept, and the person kept there took their name from that place. So a "prisoner" is, in origin, someone defined by the fact of being seized.

Synonyms: inmates, convicts

Antonyms: free persons, citizens