quarantine

Meanings

Noun

  • The desert in which Christ fasted for 40 days according to the Bible.
  • A grace period of 40 days during which a widow has the right to remain in her dead husband's home, regardless of the inheritance.
  • A sanitary measure to prevent the spread of a contagious plague by isolating those believed or feared to be infected.
  • Such official detention of a ship at or off port due to suspicion that it may be carrying a contagious disease aboard.
  • A certain place for isolating persons suspected of suffering from a contagious disease.
  • A certain period of time during which a person is isolated to determine whether they've been infected with a contagious disease.
  • Any rigorous measure of isolation, regardless of the reason.
  • A record system kept by port health authorities in order to monitor and prevent the spread of contagious diseases.
  • A place where email messages or other files which are suspected of harboring a computer virus are stored.

Verb

Origin

  • From Middle English quarentine, from Medieval Latin quarentīna ("forty days"), from Latin quadrāgintā ("forty").
  • From Italian quarantina ("forty days"), the period Venetians customarily kept ships from plague-ridden countries waiting off port, from quaranta, from Latin quadrāgintā.

Modern English dictionary

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