Detainee
/ˌdiːteɪˈniː/noun
A person who is held in official custody or confined.
Did you know?The word comes from French, ultimately from Latin roots meaning “to hold fast,” and it shares ancestry with everyday words like *tense* and *tenacious*—all built on the ancient idea of gripping tightly.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*ten-
“to stretch, extend”
Latin
Latin
tenēre
“to hold, keep, possess”
Old French
Old French
detenir
“to hold back, keep from going; to detain”
Middle English
English
detaynen
“to keep back, hold in custody”
Modern English
English
detainee
“a person held in custody”