[priz-uh
n] 
| 1. | a building for the confinement of persons held while awaiting trial, persons sentenced after conviction, etc. |
| 2. | state prison. |
| 3. | any place of confinement or involuntary restraint. |
| 4. | imprisonment. |
| pris·on (prĭz'ən) n.
To confine in or as if in a prison; imprison. [Middle English, from Old French, alteration (influenced by Old French pris, taken) of Latin prēnsiō, prēnsiōn-, a seizing, from *prehēnsiō, from prehēnsus, past participle of prehendere, to seize; see ghend- in Indo-European roots.] Word History: The word prison can be traced back to the Latin word prēnsiō, "the action or power of making an arrest." This in turn is derived from the verb prehendere or prēndere, which meant "to take hold of, take into custody, arrest." Prēnsiō then surfaces in the Old French of the 12th century with the form prison and the senses "capture" and "place of imprisonment." This new sense could have already been developed in Latin and not been recorded, but we have to wait until the 12th century to see it, the sense "captivity" being added in the same century. From Old French as well as the Medieval Latin word priso, "prison," derived from Old French, came our Middle English word prisoun, first recorded in a work written before 1121 in the sense "imprisonment." The sense "place of imprisonment" is recorded shortly afterward in a text copied down before 1225 but perhaps actually written in the Old English period before the Norman Conquest. |
Prison
The first occasion on which we read of a prison is in the history of Joseph in Egypt. Then Potiphar, "Joseph's master, took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king's prisoners were bound" (Gen. 39:20-23). The Heb. word here used (sohar) means properly a round tower or fortress. It seems to have been a part of Potiphar's house, a place in which state prisoners were kept. The Mosaic law made no provision for imprisonment as a punishment. In the wilderness two persons were "put in ward" (Lev. 24:12; Num. 15:34), but it was only till the mind of God concerning them should be ascertained. Prisons and prisoners are mentioned in the book of Psalms (69:33; 79:11; 142:7). Samson was confined in a Philistine prison (Judg. 16:21, 25). In the subsequent history of Israel frequent references are made to prisons (1 Kings 22:27; 2 Kings 17:4; 25:27, 29; 2 Chr. 16:10; Isa. 42:7; Jer. 32:2). Prisons seem to have been common in New Testament times (Matt. 11:2; 25:36, 43). The apostles were put into the "common prison" at the instance of the Jewish council (Acts 5:18, 23; 8:3); and at Philippi Paul and Silas were thrust into the "inner prison" (16:24; comp. 4:3; 12:4, 5).