Standard Lemma guide

detainee

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /ˌdɪteɪˈniː/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: D IY2 T EY0 N IY1 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Someone who is detained, especially in custody or confinement.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

some held in custody

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: political detainee

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: prisoner, captive

History

Etymology

From detain + -ee.

Across languages

Translations

31 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: أسير (ʔasīr) — one who is detained
  • Arabic: أسيرة (ʔasīra) — one who is detained
  • Arabic: أسرى (ʔasrā) — one who is detained
  • Arabic: أسيرات (ʔasīrāt) — one who is detained
  • Bulgarian: задържан (zadǎržan) — one who is detained
  • Bulgarian: арестант (arestant) — one who is detained
  • Catalan: detingut — one who is detained
  • Catalan: detinguda — one who is detained
  • Esperanto: malliberulo — one who is detained
  • French: détenu — one who is detained
  • French: détenue — one who is detained
  • German: Häftling — one who is detained
  • German: Gefangener — one who is detained
  • Hungarian: letartóztatott — one who is detained
  • Hungarian: elítélt — one who is detained
  • Hungarian: fogvatartott — one who is detained
  • Hungarian: rab — one who is detained
  • Hungarian: fogoly — one who is detained
  • Hungarian: őrizetes — one who is detained
  • Interlingua: detenito — one who is detained
  • Interlingua: detenita — one who is detained
  • Italian: detenuto — one who is detained
  • Italian: detenuta — one who is detained
  • Portuguese: detento — one who is detained
  • Portuguese: detenta — one who is detained
  • Russian: задержанный (zaderžannyj) — one who is detained
  • Spanish: detenido — one who is detained
  • Spanish: detenida — one who is detained
  • Ottoman Turkish: اسیر (esir) — one who is detained
  • Ukrainian: затри́маний (zatrýmanyj) — one who is detained
  • Ukrainian: затри́мана (zatrýmana) — one who is detained