inmate

English

Etymology

From inn +‎ -mate, or from in- +‎ -mate.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɪn.meɪt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

inmate (plural inmates)

1. A person confined to an institution such as a prison (as a convict) or hospital (as a patient).
2. A person who shares a residence (such as a hotel guest, a lodger, or a student living on campus), or other place.
   • 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “Loomings”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:

     I love to sail forbidden seas, and land on barbarous coasts. Not ignoring what is good, I am quick to perceive a horror, and could still be social with it—would they let me—since it is but well to be on friendly terms with all the inmates of the place one lodges in.

   • 1852 July, Herman Melville, “Book XVI. First Night of Their Arrival in the City.”, in Pierre: Or, The Ambiguities, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC, section I, pages 312–313:

     [T]he inmates of the coach, by numerous hard, painful joltings, and ponderous, dragging trundlings, are suddenly made sensible of some great change in the character of the road.

3. (uncommon) Synonym of passenger, a person held or riding within a vehicle.
   • 1916 July, Henry Yule & al., "Padre Maestro Fray Seb. Manrique in Bengal (1628–Sept. 11, 1629)", Bengal Past & Present, Vol. XIII, No. 25, p. 32:

     P. della Valle writes in the same strain: "And these two, the palankins and the andors [a kind of doli] also differ from one another, for in the andor the cane which sustains it is, as it is in the reti, straight; whereas in the palankin, for the greater convenience of the inmate, and to give more room for raising his head, the cane is arched upwards like this, _∩_..."

Usage notes

• Perhaps around 1970, television journalists began to use the word as a euphemism for prisoner, and this has become the primary, if not only, definition among younger generations. To avoid confusion, when speaking of people receiving medical services, patient may be preferred instead.

Derived terms

• coinmate
• inmacy
• inmatehood

Translations

one confined to institution, such as a prison

• Arabic: سَجِين m (sajīn) سَجِينَة f (sajīna) (in a prison), نَزِيل m (nazīl) نَزِيلَة f (nazīla) (in a hospital)
• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Catalan: intern (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 囚犯 (zh) (qiúfàn), 病人 (zh) (bìngrén) (hospital)

• Czech: vězeň (cs) m, chovanec (cs) m, pacient (cs) m
• Dutch: gedetineerde (nl), gevangene (nl)
• Esperanto: enfermito, kaptito, malliberulo, prizonulo
• Finnish: vanki (fi)
• French: détenu (fr) m, détenue (fr) f, codétenu (fr) m, codétenue (fr) f
• German: Insasse (de) m, Insassin (de) f
• Greek: τρόφιμος (el) c (trófimos)
• Italian: detenuto (it) m, internato (it) m, prigioniero (it) m
• Macedonian: затвореник m (zatvorenik)
• Polish: więzień (pl) m, więźniarka (pl) f
• Portuguese: interno (pt) m
• Russian: заключённый (ru) m (zaključónnyj), заключённая (ru) f (zaključónnaja) (prison), пацие́нт (ru) m (pacién), пацие́нтка (ru) f (paciéntka) (patient in a hospital)
• Slovak: väzeň m, chovanec m, pacient m
• Spanish: internado (es) m, interno (es) m, preso (es) m, recluso (es) m, presidiario (es) m, reo (es) m, convicto m, detenido (es) m
• Turkish: mukim (tr), yusufiyeli

  Ottoman Turkish: اسیر (esir)

• Ukrainian: в'я́зень (uk) (vʺjázenʹ), ув'я́знений (uk) m (uvʺjáznenyj), паціє́нт m (pacijént)

one who occupies a dwelling-house

• Arabic: سَاكِن (ar) m (sākin), سَاكِنَة f (sākina)
• Bulgarian: обита́тел (bg) m (obitátel), обита́телка f (obitátelka)
• Catalan: resident (ca) m or f
• French: résident (fr) m, résidente (fr) f, pensionnaire (fr) m or f
• German: Bewohner (de) m, Bewohnerin (de) f
• Hindi: भीतरिया (hi) (bhītriyā), साकिन (hi) (sākin), सहनिवासी (sahnivāsī), अन्तःवासी (antaḥvāsī), सहवासी (hi) (sahvāsī), सहवर्ती (hi) (sahvartī), निवासी (hi) (nivāsī), वासी (hi) (vāsī), संवासी (hi) (samvāsī)
• Italian: interno (it) m, residente (it) m
• Polish: współmieszkaniec m
• Russian: жи́тель (ru) m (žítelʹ), жи́тельница (ru) f (žítelʹnica), обита́тель (ru) m (obitátelʹ), обита́тельница (ru) f (obitátelʹnica)
• Spanish: residente (es) m or f
• Ukrainian: ме́шканець m (méškanecʹ), пожиле́ць m (požylécʹ), жиле́ць m (žylécʹ)

Anagrams

• Etamin, Tamien, Tieman, etamin, inmeat, taimen, tamine