Word.ws English Dictionary

quarantine

/ˈkwɔɹ.ən.tin/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

New York City/ˈkwɑɹ.ən.tin/

quarantine noun: a period of 40 days, particularly. Also the alternative letter-case form of Quarantine.

Noun

quarantine (countable and uncountable, plural quarantines)

  1. A period of 40 days, particularly
    • Now the Question seems to lye thus, where lay the Seeds of the Infection all this while? How came it to stop so long, and not stop any longer? Either the Distemper did not come immediately by Contagion from Body to Body, or if it did, then a Body may be capable to continue infected, without the...1722, Daniel Defoe, Journal of the Plague Year, page 235
    1. (historical) The 40-day period during which a widow is entitled to remain in her deceased husband's home while any dower is collected and returned.
      • Querentyne is where a man dyeth seisyd of a maner place and other landis where of the wyfe ought to be indowed, than the woman shall hold the maner place by .xl. days within which tyme her dower shalbe to her assyned.c. 1523, John Rastell, Exposiciones Terminorum Legum Anglorum, fol. 4v
    2. (historical) The 40-day period of isolation required after 1448 at Venice's lazaret to avoid renewed outbreaks of the bubonic plague and identical policies in other locations.
    3. (historical) A 40-day period formerly imposed by the French king upon warring nobles during which they were forbidden from exacting revenge or continuing to fight.
      • Quarantain of the King, is a Truce of forty Days appointed by S. Louis; during which it was expressly forbid to take any Revenge of the Relation or Friends of People.1728, Ephraim Chambers, Cyclopaedia, "Quarantaine"
      • Forty days, called the King's quarantain, were allowed the friends or relations of a principal in a private war to grant or find security.1818, Alexander Ranken, The History of France, volume IV, page 233
  2. A period, instance, or state of isolation from the general public or from native livestock and flora enacted to prevent the spread of any contagious disease.
    • The tourists were put in quarantine to ensure none of them would be able to spread the plague.
    • From Toulon... Our Gallyes which were upon the point of finishing their Quarantaine, and entering into this Port, have been hindred from it by th'arrival of three others that were out a roaming.1649, Moderate Intelligencer, No. 236, p. 2279
  3. (figuratively) A similar period, instance, or state of rigidly enforced or self-enforced detention or isolation.
    • Now treating Sandwich seems the fittest choice
      For Spain, there to condole and to rejoyce:
      He meets the French, but to avoid all harms,
      Slips into Groine, Embassies bears no Arms.
      There let him languish a long Quarrentine,
      And ne're to England come, till he be clean.1667, John Denham, The Second Advice to a Painter, pages 13–14
    • What I wish to put under Quarantine are family events—& all allusion thereto past—present—or to come.1816 Nov. 27, Lord Byron, Letter
  4. A place where such isolation is enforced, a lazaret.
    • They bring wood, millet, rye, barley, and a little wheat to the quarantine to barter with the Cossaks for salt.1806 April, Reginald Heber, Journal
  5. (colloquial) A period of time where people are not allowed to leave their homes to contain the spread of an infectious disease.
  6. (figuratively) A blockade of trade, suspension of diplomatic relations, or other action whereby one country seeks to isolate another.
    • When a great power establishes diplomatic quarantine against them it is well not to go too far on a course on which they appear to be embarking with a light heart.1891 Dec. 16, New York Times, p. 1
    • President Roosevelt today challenged the effectiveness of a policy of neutrality in keeping the United States at peace and advocated instead a collective ‘quarantine’ of aggressor nations.1937 Oct. 6, New York Herald Tribune, p. 1
  7. (figuratively) An isolation of one program, drive, computer, etc. from the rest of a computer network to limit the damage from a bug, computer virus, etc.
    • Also included is Canary, a ‘quarantine’ program for use as a sample to test for a virus by pairing it with new or suspect programs.1988 Mar. 21, InfoWorld
    • At least one expert says... that a quarantine can be futile if the software is infected with a time-activated virus.1989 Feb. 2, American Banker, p. 8
  8. (figuratively) The program, drive, computer, etc. thus isolated.
    • If they click on the link then they're added to your approved senders list and their message is moved to your inbox; if they don't, the message stays in quarantine.2004 Dec., .Net, No. 131, p. 71

Verb

quarantine (third-person singular simple present quarantines, present participle quarantining, simple past and past participle quarantined)

  1. (transitive) To place into isolation to prevent the spread of any contagious disease.
    • Venice began quarantining incoming ships for 40 days in 1448 to prevent further outbreaks of bubonic plague.
    • We... sent our boat on board a French man of war lying in the bay, with a letter for our consul; captain Murray not wishing to have any communication with the shore, for fear of being quarantined at the next port he went to.1803 Feb. 17, Maryland Gazette, Letter
  2. (intransitive) To enter or stay in quarantine, particularly to self-quarantine to avoid an epidemic disease.
    • International travelers must quarantine themselves at their own expense in a designated hotel for 14 days upon arrival.
    • The Mauretania... is expected to ‘quarantine’ at New York at 10 a.m. tomorrow.1928 Aug. 7, Daily News, p. 7
  3. (intransitive, obsolete) To impose a quarantine, to establish quarantine regulations.
    • It has just been announced that Norfolk, Va., and Holly Springs, Miss., have quarantined against Memphis.1879 July 22, The Times, p. 12
  4. (figuratively, transitive) Synonym of isolate more generally.
    • J.F.K. "quarantined" Cuba rather than blockading it to avoid needless escalation of the conflict.
    • ...where I should be detained, Quarantined, smoaked & vinegard...1804 Dec. 20, Washington Irving, Letter
    Synonyms:
    isolate more generally
  5. (figuratively, transitive) Synonym of restrict.
    • Did any moral taint hang about me that quarantined my entrance into its circle?1850 July 27, Chamber's Edinburgh Journal, p. 49
    • The parliament of the island... quarantined Great Britain against sending any potatoes into the island.c. 1912, E.H. Grubb et al., Potato, page 479
    Synonyms:
    restrict

Proper noun capitalized: Quarantine

Quarantine

  1. (dated) Synonym of Mount of Temptation.
    • Than turned we vp in to Quarantenea. 1500, The Pilgrymage and the Wayes of Jerusalem ("Stations of Jerusalem"), HM 144, [https://iiif.biblissima.fr/collections/manifest/c7848d41bd1fed02b0af37c3a5bf7359f61fa800?tify={%22pages%22:[170]...

Also used as

quarantine is also the alternative letter-case form of Quarantine.

quarantine meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Tagalog

quarantine in Hindi

a period, instance, or state of isolation to prevent the spread of disease
क्वारंटीन kvāraṇṭīn

quarantine in Tamil

a period, instance, or state of isolation to prevent the spread of disease
ஒடுக்கம் oṭukkam

quarantine in Urdu

a period, instance, or state of isolation to prevent the spread of disease
قرنطینہ qarantína

quarantine in Tagalog

a period, instance, or state of isolation to prevent the spread of disease
kuwarentenas, pahiwalay
More languagesFewer languages
quarantine in Arabic
حَجْر صِحِّيّ ḥajr ṣiḥḥiyy, عَزْل ʕazl, كَرَنْتِينَة karantīna
quarantine in Malay
pupuh, kuarantin, karantina
quarantine in Indonesian
karantina, mengarantina, mengarantinakan
quarantine in Persian
قرنطینه qarantine, قرنطینه کردن
quarantine in Thai
การกักกัน gaan-gàk-gan, การกักตัว gaan-gàk-dtuua, กักกัน gàk-gan, กักตัว gàk-dtuua
quarantine in Vietnamese
sự cách ly, sự kiểm dịch, cách ly, khu cách ly

Examples of quarantine in a sentence

  • This dreadful malady might be annihilated by making all the dogs in Great Britain perform a kind of quarantine, by shutting them up for a certain number of weeks.1796, Edward Darwin, Zoonomia, volume II, page 265:
  • The lady stared; but a single question elicited the fatal truth—the vessel was under quarantine, and once on board there was no quitting it.1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Romance and Reality. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Henry Colburn and Richard...
  • The lepers often sought a voluntary death as the only escape from their perpetual quarantine.1859, John Mounteney Jephson et al., Narrative of a Walking Tour in Brittany, page 77:
  • She then offered thanks to everyone who has dutifully followed home quarantine and self-health management protocols.2020 March 20, Keoni Everington, “Next 14 Days Are Critical for Taiwan's Wuhan Virus Battle: Tsai”, in Taiwan News:

All 40 example sentences with quarantine

Synonyms of quarantine

All synonyms of quarantine

Forms of quarantine

Noun
pluralquarantines
alternative form (obsolete)Quarantine
alternative form (obsolete)quarentine
alternative form (obsolete)quarantin
alternative form (obsolete)quaranteen
alternative form (obsolete)quarantain
alternative form (obsolete)quarantaine
alternative form (obsolete)quarrentine
alternative form (obsolete)quarantene
alternative form (obsolete)quarentene
alternative form (obsolete)quarentyne
alternative form (obsolete)querentyne
Verb
third-person singular presentquarantines
present participlequarantining
past participlequarantined
pastquarantined
Proper noun
alternative formMount Quarantine

Past tense of quarantine: quarantined

Plural of quarantine: quarantines

Origin of quarantine

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.

From Latin Quarantina.

Words formed from quarantine

Phrases with quarantine

Questions about quarantine

What does quarantine mean?
Quarantine means a period of 40 days, particularly.
What is quarantine in Hindi?
Quarantine in Hindi is क्वारंटीन (kvāraṇṭīn). See Quarantine meaning in Hindi.
How do you use quarantine in a sentence?
This dreadful malady might be annihilated by making all the dogs in Great Britain perform a kind of quarantine, by shutting them up for a certain number of weeks.
What part of speech is quarantine?
Quarantine can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce quarantine?
Quarantine is pronounced /ˈkwɔɹ.ən.tin/ (US).
What is the plural of quarantine?
The plural of quarantine is quarantines.

Words near quarantine in the dictionary

  1. quaranteaming
  2. quaranteamings
  3. quaranteams
  4. quaranties
  5. quarantinable
  6. quarantine
  7. quarantine flag
  8. quarantine flags
  9. quarantined
  10. quarantinee
  11. quarantinees

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: quarantine (page history and authors); Quarantine (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-quarantine.ogg, en-au-quarantine.ogg.

Cite this entry: “quarantine.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/quarantine. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.