prison (English)

Where does "prison" come from?

The word 'prison' descends from the Proto-Indo-European root *gʰed-, meaning 'to seize' or 'to take.' It evolved into the Latin word prehensio, which described the act of capturing or arresting someone. Through Old French, this term transformed into 'prison,' eventually entering English to represent the physical place where those seized by authority are held.

Full etymology tree

prison (English), 'A place or institution where people are held against their will, in the US especially for long-term confinement, as of those convicted of serious crimes or otherwise considered undesirable by the government.'
- inherited prisoun (Middle English), 'prison, jail, dungeon (place where captives are held)'
  - inherited prisun (Anglo-Norman)
    - inherited prison (Old French), 'prison'
      - inherited prehensio (Latin), 'an act of seizing, apprehending, arresting, capturing'
        derived prehendo (Latin), 'to lay hold of, seize, grasp, grab, snatch, take, catch'
        prefix prae- (Latin), 'before; in front'
        compound *hendo (Proto-Italic)
        inherited *gʰed- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to find'
        suffix -tio (Latin), '-tion, -ation, -ing; suffixed to verbs to form action nouns denoting a process, action, or result of an action.'

Direct ancestors

Updated July 2026

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