custody

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   The legal right and duty to care for someone, especially a child.

   The court awarded custody of the children to their mother.

2. 2
   noun

   The state of being held by the police, usually before a trial.

   He was held in police custody overnight.

3. 3
   noun

   The temporary care or safekeeping of someone else's property.

   My passport is in the custody of the hotel until I pay the bill.

Borrowed from Latin custōdia (“a keeping, watch, guard, prison”), from custōs (“a keeper, watchman, guard”). Doublet of custode.

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