Quarantine Definition

kwôrən-tēn, kwŏr-
quarantined, quarantines, quarantining
noun
The period, orig. 40 days, during which an arriving vessel suspected of carrying contagious disease is detained in port in strict isolation.
Webster's New World
An action resulting in such a condition.
The government's quarantine of the animals.
American Heritage Medicine
The place where such a vessel is stationed.
Webster's New World
Any isolation or restriction on travel or passage imposed to keep contagious diseases, etc. from spreading.
Webster's New World
An action to isolate another nation, such as a blockade of its ports or a severance of diplomatic or trade relations.
American Heritage
verb
To place under quarantine.
Webster's New World
To isolate politically, commercially, socially, etc.
Webster's New World

To retain in obligatory isolation or separation, as a sanitary measure to prevent the spread of contagious disease.

Wiktionary

Other Word Forms of Quarantine

Noun

Singular:
quarantine
Plural:
quarantines

Origin of Quarantine

  • Italian quarantena from Venetian dialectal Italian quarantine of a ship (so called because the length of the quarantine was typically forty days) from Old Italian quarantina period of forty days (such as one designated for fasting or penance) from quaranta forty from Latin quadrāgintā kwetwer- in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • From Italian quarantina (“forty"), from quarantina giorni (“forty days"), the period Venetians customarily kept ships from plague-ridden countries waiting for off port), from quaranta (“forty"), from Latin quadraginta (“forty")

    From Wiktionary

  • Directly from Latin quadraginta (“forty")

    From Wiktionary

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