quarantine

Plural: quarantines

Noun

enforced isolation of patients suffering from a contagious disease in order to prevent the spread of disease
isolation to prevent the spread of infectious disease
A period of 40 days, particularly
A period of 40 days, particularly
The 40-day period during which a widow is entitled to remain in her deceased husband's home while any dower is collected and returned.
A period of 40 days, particularly
The 40-day period of isolation required after 1448 at Venice's lazaret to avoid renewed outbreaks of the bubonic plague and identical policies in other locations.
A period of 40 days, particularly
A 40-day period formerly imposed by the French king upon warring nobles during which they were forbidden from exacting revenge or continuing to fight.
A period, instance, or state of isolation from the general public or from native livestock and flora enacted to prevent the spread of any contagious disease.
A similar period, instance, or state of rigidly enforced or self-enforced detention or isolation.
A place where such isolation is enforced, a lazaret.
A blockade of trade, suspension of diplomatic relations, or other action whereby one country seeks to isolate another.
An isolation of one program, drive, computer, etc. from the rest of a computer network to limit the damage from a bug, computer virus, etc.
The program, drive, computer, etc. thus isolated.

Verb

place into enforced isolation, as for medical reasons
- "My dog was quarantined before he could live in England"
To place into isolation to prevent the spread of any contagious disease.
To enter or stay in quarantine, particularly to self-quarantine to avoid an epidemic disease.
To impose a quarantine, to establish quarantine regulations.
Synonym of isolate more generally.
Synonym of restrict.

Name

Alternative letter-case form of Quarantine: the Mount of Temptation where Jesus Christ supposedly fasted for 40 days, Jebel Quruntul near Jericho.

Examples

International travelers must quarantine themselves at their own expense in a designated hotel for 14 days upon arrival.
J.F.K. "quarantined" Cuba rather than blockading it to avoid needless escalation of the conflict.
The tourists were put in quarantine to ensure none of them would be able to spread the plague.
Venice began quarantining incoming ships for 40 days in 1448 to prevent further outbreaks of bubonic plague.

Origin / Etymology

From Medieval Latin quarentena and quarentīna (“40-day period, Lent”) via Middle English quarentine, Norman quarenteine, French quarenteine, and Italian quarantina, via proposed Late Latin *quaranta + -ēna (forming distributive adjectives), from Latin quadrāgintā (“four tens, 40”).
In reference to French politics, calque of French quarantaine after edicts of Louis IX. In reference to a severance of political relations, popularized by the Roosevelt administration's 1937 approach to the Axis powers and the later Kennedy administration's 1962 approach to Cuba during the missile crisis.

Synonyms

isolate more generally, lazar house, lazaret, lazaretto, restrict

Scrabble Score: 19

quarantine: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
quarantine: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
quarantine: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 22

quarantine: valid Words With Friends Word