jail (English)

Where does "jail" come from?

The English noun 'jail' traces back to the Latin 'cavea', meaning 'cavity, coop, cage'[1][2]. This evolved into the Late Latin diminutive 'caveola', meaning 'small cage, cell'[1], which traveled into Medieval Latin as 'gabiola'[1]. The term then passed into Old French as 'gaiole'[1][5] and Anglo-Norman as 'jaiole'[4], before entering Middle English as 'gayole'[1]. Over time, this borrowed term fully displaced native Middle English terms like 'quartern' and partially displaced others like 'lok' and 'carcern'[1].

Full etymology tree

jail (English), 'A place or institution for the confinement of persons held against their will in lawful custody or detention, especially (in US usage) a place where people are held for minor offenses or with reference to some future judicial proceeding.'
- borrowed gayole (Middle English), 'jail, prison (place for confining prisoners)'
  - borrowed jaiole (Anglo-Norman)
    - borrowed gaiole (Old French), 'alternative form of jaiole'
      - derived gabiola (Medieval Latin)
        derived caveola (Latin), 'little cage'
        derived cavea (Latin), 'hollow, cavity'
        derived cavus (Latin), 'hollow, hollowed out, cavernous, concave'

Ancestors

*ḱewh₁- (Proto-Indo-European)
gayole (Middle English)
gaiole (Old French)
caveola (Latin)
cavea (Latin)

Cognates and doublets

caveola (English)

Descendants and derived words

air jail (English)
black jail (English)
county jail (English)
enjail (English)
Facebook jail (English)
gay baby jail (English)
get out of jail free card (English)
get-out-of-jail-free card (English)
grippy sock jail (English)
horny jail (English)
in jail (English)
jail bait (English)

Sources

Updated August 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris