prisoner

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:

prisoner

Wikipedia

Etymology

From Middle English prisoner, from Old French prisonier (compare Medieval Latin prisōnārius), equivalent to prison +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpɹɪzənə/, /ˈpɹɪznə/
• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈpɹɪzənɚ/, /ˈpɹɪznɚ/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: pri‧son‧er

Noun

prisoner (plural prisoners)

1. A person incarcerated in a prison, while on trial or serving a sentence.

   Synonym: jailbird

   Two other prisoners were staying in the same cell as him.

   • 1861, Edward William Cox, Reports of Cases in Criminal Law:

     The evidence disclosed that the three prisoners were in a public-house together with the prosecutor, Abraham Rhodes, and that in concert with the other two prisoners, the prisoner John Dewhirst placed a pencase on the table in the room where they were assembled, and left the room to get writing-paper.

   • 2024 August 1, Ivana Kottasová and Anna Chernova, “Who was freed in major prisoner swap between Russia and the West?”, in CNN‎:

     American journalist Evan Gershkovich and former US Marine Paul Whelan were among the 24 detainees released as part of a complex prisoner swap between Russia, the US and other Western nations. […] Krasikov, a former high-ranking FSB colonel serving a life sentence in a German prison, was on the top of Moscow’s list of Russian prisoners it wanted to exchange.

2. Any person held against their will.
   • c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act I, scene ii:

     And gainſt the General we will lift our ſwords / And either lanch his greedie thirſting throat, / Or take him priſoner, and his chaine ſhall ſerue / For Manackles, till he be ranſom’d home.

   • 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

     Captain Edward Carlisle, soldier as he was, martinet as he was, felt a curious sensation of helplessness seize upon him as he met her steady gaze, her alluring smile ; he could not tell what this prisoner might do.

3. A person who is or feels confined or trapped by a situation or a set of circumstances.

   I am no longer a prisoner to fear, for I am a child of God.

Derived terms

• ghost prisoner
• non-prisoner
• political prisoner
• prisoner at large
• prisoner exchange
• prisoner of conscience
• prisoner of hope
• prisoner of war
• prisoner-of-war camp
• prisoner swap
• prisoner visa
• Spanish prisoner
• star prisoner

Related terms

• imprison
• prison

Translations

person incarcerated in a prison

Albanian: i burgosur (sq), i burgosun (sq) (Gheg), rob (sq) m Arabic: سَجِين m (sajīn), سَجِينَة f (sajīna), مَحْبُوس m (maḥbūs), مَحْبُوسَة f (maḥbūsa) Armenian: բանտարկյալ (hy) (bantarkyal) Asturian: presu m, prisioneru m Azerbaijani: məhbus (az), əsir (az) Belarusian: вя́зень m (vjázjenʹ), зняво́лены m (znjavóljeny), арышта́нт m (aryštánt), арышта́нтка f (aryštántka) Bengali: বন্দী (bn) (bondi), জিন্দানবাসী (zindanbaśī) Breton: prizoniad (br) m Bulgarian: затво́рник (bg) m (zatvórnik), затво́рничка f (zatvórnička), затво́рница f (zatvórnica) Burmese: ထောင်သား (my) (htaungsa:) Catalan: pres (ca) m, presoner (ca) m Cebuano: bilanggo Chinese: Mandarin: 囚犯 (zh) (qiúfàn) Czech: vězeň (cs) m, vězeňkyně f Danish: fange (da) c Dutch: gevangene (nl) m or f Egyptian: (ḫnr) Esperanto: malliberulo, kaptito, prizonulo Estonian: vang (et), karistatu Faroese: fangi m Finnish: vanki (fi) French: prisonnier (fr) m, prisonnière (fr) f Galician: preso (gl) m, prisioneiro (gl) m Georgian: პატიმარი (ṗaṭimari), ტუსაღი (ṭusaɣi) German: Gefangener (de) m, Gefangene (de) f, Häftling (de) m, Strafgefangener (de) m, Gefängnisinsasse (de) m Gothic: 𐌱𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌾𐌰 m (bandja) Greek: κρατούμενος (el) m (kratoúmenos), φυλακισμένος (el) m (fylakisménos) Ancient: δεσμώτης m (desmṓtēs) Hebrew: אָסִיר (he) m (asír), אֲסִירָה f (asirá) Hiligaynon: bilanggo Hindi: बंदी (hi) m (bandī), क़ैदी m (qaidī), बद्धक (hi) m (baddhak) Hungarian: rab (hu), fogoly (hu) Icelandic: fangi (is) m, bandingi (is) m Ilocano: balud Indonesian: tahanan (id) Irish: cime m, príosúnach m Italian: prigioniero (it) m, prigioniera (it) f Japanese: 囚人 (ja) (しゅうじん, shūjin), 捕虜 (ja) (ほりょ, horyo) (prisoner of war) Jarai: mơnă Kazakh: қамалған (qamalğan), қамалушы (qamaluşy), қорытылған (qorytylğan), тұтқын (kk) (tūtqyn) Khmer: អ្នកទោស (nĕək tooh), មនុស្សទោស (mɔnuh tooh), ឈ្លើយ (km) (chləəy) Korean: 죄수(罪囚) (ko) (joesu), 죄인(罪人) (ko) (joein), 수감자(收監者) (ko) (sugamja), 재소자(在所者) (ko) (jaesoja), 기결수(旣決囚) (ko) (gigyeolsu) Kurdish: Northern Kurdish: girtî (ku), zindanî (ku), êsîr (ku), dîl (ku), bendî (ku) Kyrgyz: камалуучу (kamaluucu), туткун (ky) (tutkun) Lao: ນັກໂທດ (nak thōt), ຊະເລີຍ (sa lœ̄i) Latin: captus (la) m Latvian: ieslodzītais m, cietumnieks m, gūsteknis m Lithuanian: kalinys m Luxembourgish: Prisonnéier m, Gefaangenen m Macedonian: затвореник m (zatvorenik), затвореничка f (zatvorenička), затвореница f (zatvorenica) Malay: banduan (ms) Malayalam: തടവുപുള്ളി (taṭavupuḷḷi), തടവുകാരൻ m (taṭavukāraṉ) Maltese: priġunier m, maqbud m Maori: herehere Mongolian: Cyrillic: хоригдол (mn) (xorigdol), хоригдогч (mn) (xorigdogč) Norwegian: Bokmål: fange (no) m Occitan: presonièr (oc) m Old English: rǣpling m Old Norse: bandingi m Ottoman Turkish: اسیر (esir) Pashto: بندي (ps) m (bandí), اسير (ps) m (asír) Persian: زندانی (fa) (zendâni), بندی (fa) (bandi), اسیر (fa) (asir), محبوس (fa) (mahbus) Plautdietsch: Jefangna m Polish: więzień (pl) m, więźniarka (pl) f Portuguese: prisioneiro (pt) m, preso (pt) m Romanian: pușcăriaș (ro) m, prizonier (ro) m Russian: заключённый (ru) m (zaključónnyj), заключённая (ru) m (zaključónnaja), ареста́нт (ru) m (arestánt), ареста́нтка (ru) f (arestántka) Sanskrit: see Thesaurus:बन्दिन् Scottish Gaelic: prìosanach m Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: затворѐнӣк m, затворѐница f, ка̏жњенӣк m, заробљѐнӣк m, заробљѐница f Roman: zatvorènīk (sh) m, zatvorènica (sh) f, kȁžnjenīk (sh) m, zarobljènīk (sh) m, zarobljènica (sh) f Slovak: väzeň m, väzeňkyňa f Slovene: zapornik (sl) m, zapornica f, jetnik m, jetnica f Spanish: prisionero (es) m, preso (es) m Swahili: mahabusu (sw), mfungwa (sw) Swedish: fånge (sv) c, fängelsekund c, intern (sv) c Tagalog: bilanggo (tl), kalabos Tajik: маҳбус (mahbus), зиндони (zindon-i), асир (tg) (asir) Tamil: கைதி (ta) (kaiti) Telugu: ఖైదీ (te) (khaidī) Thai: นักโทษ (th) (nák-tôot), เชลย (th) (chá-ləəi) Tibetan: བཙོན་པ (btson pa) Turkish: mahkum (tr), mahpus (tr), esir (tr) Turkmen: tussag, ýesir Tuvan: кара-бажыңнаттырган (kara-bajıñnattırgan) Ukrainian: в'я́зень (uk) m (vʺjázenʹ), арешта́нт (uk) m (areštánt), арешта́нтка (uk) f (areštántka) Urdu: قیدی m (qaidī), بندی m (bandī) Uzbek: mahbus (uz), bandi (uz), asir (uz), mahkum (uz) Vietnamese: tù nhân (vi) Volapük: (♂♀) fanäböpäb, (♂) hifanäböpäb, (♀) jifanäböpäb, fanäb (vo) Yiddish: אַרעסטאַנט m (arestant)

figurative: any person held against his or her will

Asturian: presu m, prisioneru m Belarusian: вя́зень m (vjázjenʹ), пало́ннік m (palónnik), пало́нніца f (palónnica), няво́льнік m (njavólʹnik), няво́льніца f (njavólʹnica), пало́нны m (palónny), пало́нная f (palónnaja) Bulgarian: пле́нник (bg) m (plénnik), пле́нничка f (plénnička), пле́нница f (plénnica) Catalan: pres (ca) m, presoner (ca) m Cherokee: ᎠᏴᎩ (ayvgi) Czech: zajatec (cs) m, zajatkyně f, vězeň (cs) m, vězeňkyně f Finnish: vanki (fi) French: prisonnier (fr) m, prisonnière (fr) f Galician: preso (gl) m, prisioneiro (gl) m German: Gefangener (de) m, Gefangene (de) f Greek: κρατούμενος (el) m (kratoúmenos), φυλακισμένος (el) m (fylakisménos), δέσμιος (el) m (désmios) Irish: príosúnach m Japanese: とりこ (ja) (toriko) Plautdietsch: Jefangna m Polish: jeniec (pl) m Portuguese: prisioneiro (pt) m, preso (pt) m Russian: пле́нный (ru) m (plénnyj), пле́нная (ru) f (plénnaja) esp. POW, пле́нник (ru) m (plénnik), пле́нница (ru) f (plénnica), у́зник (ru) m (úznik), у́зница (ru) f (úznica) Scottish Gaelic: prìosanach Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: заробљѐнӣк m, заробљѐница f, у̏знӣк m, у̏зница f Roman: zarobljènīk (sh) m, zarobljènica (sh) f, ȕznīk (sh) m, ȕznica (sh) f Slovak: zajatec m, zajatkyňa f, väzeň m, väzeňkyňa f Slovene: ujetnik (sl) m, ujetnica f Spanish: prisionero (es) m, preso (es) m Swedish: fånge (sv) c Turkish: esir (tr), tutsak (tr) Ukrainian: в'я́зень (uk) m (vʺjázenʹ), полоне́ник m (polonényk), полоня́нин m (polonjányn), полоня́нка f (polonjánka), бра́нець (uk) m (bránecʹ), бра́нка (uk) f (bránka), полоне́ний m (polonényj), полоне́на f (polonéna) Volapük: (♂♀) fanäban, (♂) hifanäban, (♀) jifanäban

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Icelandic: (please verify) fangi (is) m Italian: (please verify) prigioniero (it) m Kurdish: Central Kurdish: (please verify) بەندی (bendî) Norwegian: (please verify) fange (no) Old English: (please verify) hæft Spanish: (please verify) preso (es) m

Anagrams

• Perrinos, erpornis

Middle English

Etymology 1

Form prisounen +‎ -er.

Noun

prisoner (plural prisoners)

1. one who imprisons (others); a jailer

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Old French prisonier; equivalent to prisoun +‎ -er.

Alternative forms

• prisonere, prysonere, prysoner, presoner
• (Cornwall) prisner

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /prizuˈneːr/, /ˈprizunər/

Noun

prisoner (plural prisoners or prisoneres)

1. prisoner
2. captive, prisoner of war

Descendants

• English: prisoner