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quarantine

qua·ran·tine

UK/ˈkwɑɹ.ən.tin/ US/ˈkwɔɹ.ən.tin/ fairly common
noun (2) verb (1)

noun

1.

enforced isolation of patients suffering from a contagious disease in order to prevent the spread of disease

2.

verb

1.

place into enforced isolation, as for medical reasons

  • “My dog was quarantined before he could live in England”

Origin

From Medieval Latin quarentena and quarentīna (“40-day period, Lent”) via Middle English quarentine, Norman quarenteine, French quarenteine, and Italian quarantina, via proposed Late Latin *quaranta + -ēna (forming distributive adjectives), from Latin quadrāgintā (“four tens, 40”). In reference to French politics, calque of French quarantaine after edicts of Louis IX. In reference to a severance of political relations, popularized by the Roosevelt administration's 1937 approach to the Axis powers and the later Kennedy administration's 1962 approach to Cuba during the missile crisis.

Phrases

  • community quarantine
  • free quarantine
  • quarantine flag
  • quarantine ground
  • quarantine kennel
  • quarantine officer
  • quarantine station

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.