# incarceration

Pronunciation: US say "ing-kar-suh-RAY-shuhn" /ɪŋˌkɑː(ɹ)səˈɹeɪʃən/; UK

## Noun

1. The act of confining someone, or the condition of being confined, especially in prison. *(US)*
   - Simple: The act of putting someone in prison, or the state of being kept there.
   - _The judge ordered his incarceration pending trial._
   - _Long-term incarceration can have lasting effects on a person's mental health._
2. Constriction of the hernial sac that makes the hernia impossible to push back, but not severe enough to cut off its blood supply.
   - Simple: The trapping of a hernia so it cannot be pushed back into place, while its blood flow stays normal.
   - _The radiologist noted incarceration of the inguinal hernia on the scan._
   - _Without prompt treatment, incarceration can later progress to strangulation._

## Noun

3. Strangulation of a hernia, in which the trapped tissue loses its blood supply. *(dated)*
   - Simple: The cutting off of blood flow to a hernia that has become trapped.
   - _The physician recorded incarceration of the hernia, the blood supply having failed entirely._
   - _By morning, incarceration had left the trapped bowel dark and lifeless._

## Origin

This word comes from the Medieval Latin word incarcerātiō.

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