confine

B2 Topic:Space, Position & Direction

US /kənˈfaɪn/ UK /ˈkɒnfaɪn/ See IPA manual

verb noun Freq #19551

Meanings

1

verb
To keep something within certain limits.

Please confine your comments to the topic we are discussing.
2

verb
To keep a person or animal in a place they cannot leave.

The injury confined him to bed for a week.
3

noun
The state of being shut in or imprisoned.

After years of close confine, he longed for open space.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to keep something within... limit restrict

2 verb · to keep a person or animal... hold

3 noun · the state of being shut in... confinement

Word family

Forms confin'dconfinedconfinesconfiningunconfined

Derived forms confinableconfinationconfineeconfinelessdeconfinereconfineunconfine

Etymology

From Middle French confiner, from confins, from Medieval Latin confines, from Latin confinium, from confīnis.

confiner Middle French confines la-med confinium Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Space, Position & Direction

# confine

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** verb, noun
**IPA (US):** kənˈfaɪn
**IPA (UK):** ˈkɒnfaɪn
**Frequency rank:** 19551

## Meanings
1. To keep something within certain limits.
2. To keep a person or animal in a place they cannot leave.
3. The state of being shut in or imprisoned.

## Examples
- Please confine your comments to the topic we are discussing.
- The injury confined him to bed for a week.
- After years of close confine, he longed for open space.

## Derived Forms
- confinable
- confination
- confinee
- confineless
- deconfine
- reconfine
- unconfine

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: confiner
- Root: confines
- Root: confinium

## Etymology
From Middle French confiner, from confins, from Medieval Latin confines, from Latin confinium, from confīnis.

## AI Etymology
confine is a verb and noun. It is from Middle French confiner, from confins, from Medieval Latin confines, from Latin confinium, from confīnis. Historical forms in the chain include confiner (Middle French), confines (Medieval Latin), and confinium (Latin). Current senses include to keep something within certain limits, to keep a person or animal in a place they cannot leave, and the state of being shut in or imprisoned. Derived forms include confinable, confination, confinee, confineless, and deconfine.

## Topics
- Space, Position & Direction

markdown

confine

Meanings

Thesaurus

Etymology

Topics

Keyboard Shortcuts

General

Send feedback