# detention

Pronunciation: US say "di-TEN-shuhn" /dɪˈtɛnʃən/; UK

## Noun

1. A school punishment requiring a student to report to a set room during recess or after hours to do schoolwork or busywork.
   - Simple: A school punishment where a student must stay after class to do extra work.
   - _Two students received detention for skipping the morning assembly._
   - _He served his detention in the library, copying out chapters from the textbook._
2. The act of holding someone in custody, or the state of being held and prevented from leaving.
   - Simple: The act of holding someone so they cannot leave.
   - _The detention of suspects without charge drew sharp public criticism._
   - _His detention at the border lasted three days before he was released._
3. The confinement of a person in custody while awaiting trial.
   - Simple: The holding of a person in jail while they wait for their trial.
   - _The court extended his detention pending the outcome of the investigation._
   - _Pretrial detention can last months in jurisdictions with crowded courts._
4. Physical control over a thing without the mental intent that the law requires to constitute legal possession.
   - Simple: Holding or controlling a thing physically, but without meaning to own or keep it.
   - _A tenant's detention of the apartment grants use but never legal possession._
   - _Mere detention of goods by a custodian does not transfer any ownership right._

## Origin

Borrowed from Middle French détention, from Latin detentio, detentionem. It is equivalent to "detain" plus "-tion."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/detention (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).