# quarantine

Pronunciation: say "KWOR-uhn-teen" US /ˈkwɔɹ.ən.tin/, UK /ˈkwɒɹ.ən.tiːn/

## Noun

1. A period or state of keeping people, livestock, or plants isolated from others to prevent a contagious disease from spreading.
   - Simple: A time of keeping people or animals away from others to stop a disease from spreading.
   - _Travelers arriving from the affected region were placed in quarantine on arrival._
   - _The newly imported cattle remained in quarantine while inspectors checked for disease._
4. A comparable period or state of strictly enforced or self-imposed detention or isolation.
   - Simple: A time of being kept apart or shut away from others, often by one's own choice.
   - _The writer retreated into a self-imposed quarantine to finish her novel, seeing no one for weeks._
   - _After the scandal, the firm kept the executive in a kind of professional quarantine._
5. A station or facility where people, animals, or goods are held in isolation to prevent the spread of contagious disease.
   - Simple: A place where people or animals are kept apart to stop a disease from spreading.
   - _Arriving vessels were anchored off the quarantine until inspectors declared the crews healthy._
   - _The imported horses spent a month in the quarantine before being released to their owners._
6. The isolation of a program, drive, or computer from the rest of a network to limit the damage caused by a bug or computer virus.
   - Simple: The act of cutting off one program or computer from the rest so a virus cannot spread.
   - _The security software moved the suspicious attachment into quarantine before it could execute._
   - _Administrators kept the infected server in quarantine while they traced the source of the breach._
7. A file, drive, or computer that has been isolated from the rest of a system to keep a possible threat from spreading.
   - Simple: A file or program that has been shut away from the rest of a computer because it may be harmful.
   - _The analyst opened each quarantine to determine whether it was genuinely malicious or a false positive._
   - _Most of the quarantines turned out to be harmless files wrongly flagged by the scanner._
8. An action by which one country seeks to isolate another, such as a trade blockade or the suspension of diplomatic relations.
   - Simple: An action one country takes to cut off another, such as stopping trade or talks.
   - _The president announced a naval quarantine to cut off arms shipments to the island._
   - _Allied governments imposed a diplomatic quarantine, recalling their ambassadors and freezing trade._
11. A period lasting forty days.
   - Simple: A length of time that lasts forty days.
   - _By custom the penitents spent a quarantine in fasting, the full forty days before Easter._
   - _The agreement bound both sides for a quarantine, after which the terms could be renegotiated._
12. The forty-day period of isolation required from 1448 at Venice's lazaret, and under similar rules elsewhere, to prevent fresh outbreaks of bubonic plague.
   - Simple: The forty-day wait that ships and travelers had to spend apart from others to stop the plague from spreading.
   - _Merchant vessels reaching the lagoon were made to ride out the quarantine before trading._
   - _The captain resented the quarantine, forty idle days while plague was suspected aboard._
14. The forty-day period during which a widow had the right to remain in her late husband's home while her dower was collected and returned.
   - Simple: The forty days a widow could stay in her dead husband's home while her share of his property was settled.
   - _The court upheld the widow's quarantine, allowing her to remain in the manor while her dower was assessed._
   - _During her quarantine she stayed in the family home, the estate untouched until her portion was set aside._
15. A forty-day period the French king imposed on feuding nobles, during which they were forbidden to seek revenge or continue fighting.
   - Simple: The forty days the French king made fighting nobles wait before they could take revenge or fight again.
   - _The crown imposed a quarantine on the feuding barons, forbidding any blow for forty days._
   - _Once the quarantine was declared, the wronged lord had to hold his hand until the term expired._

## Verb

2. To place a person, animal, or plant in isolation in order to prevent a contagious disease from spreading.
   - Simple: To keep a sick person or animal away from others so a disease does not spread.
   - _Health officials moved quickly to quarantine everyone who had contact with the carrier._
   - _Port authorities quarantined the ship until its crew could be cleared._
3. To enter or remain in isolation, especially by one's own choice, in order to avoid catching an epidemic disease.
   - Simple: To stay away from other people for a while so you do not catch or spread a disease.
   - _Thousands of people decided to quarantine voluntarily as the outbreak worsened._
   - _She quarantined for two weeks before visiting her elderly grandmother._
9. To set apart or isolate someone or something from the rest, in a general sense.
   - Simple: To keep something or someone apart from everything else.
   - _The committee chose to quarantine the disputed clause and debate it separately._
   - _She quarantined the damaged files in a separate folder so they would not interfere with her work._
10. To restrict or limit the scope, movement, or use of something.
   - Simple: To limit something or hold it back to a small part.
   - _The policy quarantines public funds to approved projects, blocking any other use._
   - _Lawmakers moved to quarantine the program's budget so it could not grow beyond the cap._

## Verb

13. To impose isolation measures or establish regulations requiring detention against contagious disease. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To set up rules that keep people apart so a disease does not spread.
   - _Fearing the spreading fever, the magistrates resolved to quarantine without delay._
   - _Coastal towns quarantined that summer, barring all vessels from the affected ports._

## Proper noun

16. Alternative letter-case form of Quarantine. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Alternative capitalization of Quarantine. Used as a name for the mountain near Jericho linked to Jesus's forty-day fast.

## Origin

It comes from Medieval Latin quarentena, meaning a 40-day period (also used for Lent), and reached English through Middle English, Norman, French, and Italian forms. Ultimately it goes back to Latin quadrāgintā, meaning "forty."

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