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Detention vs Incarceration - What's the difference?

detention | incarceration |

As nouns the difference between detention and incarceration

is that detention is the act of detaining or the state of being detained while incarceration is the act of confining, or the state of being confined; imprisonment.

detention

English

Noun

(wikipedia detention)
  • (uncountable) The act of detaining or the state of being detained.
  • (countable) A temporary state of custody or confinement, especially of a prisoner awaiting trial, or of a student being punished.

    • Derived terms

    * detention basin * detention home

    incarceration

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The act of confining, or the state of being confined; imprisonment.
  • Formerly, strangulation, as in hernia.
  • A constriction of the hernial sac, rendering it irreducible, but not great enough to cause strangulation.

    • Related terms

    * incarcerate