imprisonment
n.the state of being kept in a prison or a place you cannot leave. It is a legal punishment for a crime.
n.the state of being confined in prison; the act of restraining someone's liberty. Often used in legal contexts to describe a custodial sentence.
“The judge sentenced the thief to five years of imprisonment.”
“After the long trial, the defendant faced life imprisonment for his role in the conspiracy.”
“The philosopher argued that solitary imprisonment constitutes a form of psychological torture that exceeds the state's right to punish criminal behavior.”
Frequently follows the verb 'sentence to' or the adjective 'false'.
“Patterson was sentenced in September to life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 33 years for the murders of her estranged husband’s parents, Don and Gail Patterson , and his aunt, Heather Wilkinson .”
“The Parole Board decided in April that Razzell could be released as his imprisonment was "no longer necessary" to protect the public.”
From Anglo-Norman emprisonement, from Old French emprisonnement. See imprison + -ment.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.