quarantine
quarantine Lexical Profile
quarantine Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A state, period, or place of strict isolation imposed on people, animals, or goods that have arrived from elsewhere or been exposed to an infectious or contagious disease, in order to prevent its spread.
"The rescued stray dogs were kept in quarantine for two weeks to ensure they did not carry any contagious illnesses."
A security action or restricted storage folder in which a computer antivirus program isolates a file suspected of containing malware so that it cannot execute or infect other parts of the system.
"The security software automatically moved the suspicious email attachment into quarantine before it could harm the network."
• verb
To place a person, animal, or plant in strict isolation or to undergo such isolation after potential exposure to an infectious disease or pest.
"Agricultural inspectors had to quarantine the imported saplings to verify they were free of invasive beetles."
To isolate a corrupted or infected computer file in a restricted area of a storage drive so that it cannot execute or spread malware (of security software).
"The system administrator configured the firewall to quarantine any incoming files with unrecognized extensions."
Word Nuance & Usage
In strict public health terminology, 'quarantine' separates and restricts the movement of individuals who may have been exposed to a contagious disease to see if they become ill, whereas 'isolation' separates individuals who are already confirmed to be infected.
• Rhymes for quarantine
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the 17th century from the Venetian dialect 'quarantena', meaning 'forty days' (from Italian 'quaranta' and Latin 'quadraginta', 'forty'). It originally referred to the 40-day period during which ships arriving in Venice from plague-stricken ports were required to anchor offshore before passengers and crew could come ashore.