penitentiary
pronunciation
How to pronounce penitentiary in British English:
UK [ˌpenɪˈtenʃəri]
How to pronounce penitentiary in American English:
US [ˌpɛnɪˈtɛnʃəri]
-
- Noun:
- a correctional institution for those convicted of major crimes
-
- Adjective:
- used for punishment or reform of criminals or wrongdoers
Word Origin
- penitentiary (n.)
- early 15c., "place of punishment for offenses against the church," from Medieval Latin penitentiaria, from fem. of penitentiarius (adj.) "of penance," from Latin paenitentia "penitence" (see penitence). Meaning "house of correction" (originally an asylum for prostitutes) is from 1806, short for penitentiary house (1776). Slang shortening pen is attested from 1884.
Example
- 1. Public enemies begins in 1933 as john dillinger ( johnny depp ) leads a mass breakout from indiana state penitentiary .
- 2. Later , at ohio state penitentiary , doctors injected hela cells into prisoners without telling them what they were doing : some developed tumours as a result .
- 3. But only a handful of the 1400 graduates of a pioneering training institute for penitentiary staff have jobs in a system still dominated by the security forces , according to human-rights groups .
- 4. At the time , he was still working as a parole officer for the state and he was taking one of the prisoners , who must have been out on furlough , back to the penitentiary .