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What is the difference between prisoner and inmate?

prisoner | inmate |

As nouns the difference between prisoner and inmate

is that prisoner is a person incarcerated in a prison, while on trial or serving a sentence while inmate is a person confined to an institution such as a prison (as a convict) or hospital (as a patient.

prisoner

English

(wikipedia prisoner)

Noun

(en noun)
  • A person incarcerated in a prison, while on trial or serving a sentence.
  • Any person held against their will.
  • *
  • *:Captain Edward Carlisle, soldier as he was, martinet as he was, felt a curious sensation of helplessness seize upon him as he met her steady gaze, her alluring smile?; he could not tell what this prisoner might do.

    • Related terms

    * imprison * prison

    inmate

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A person confined to an institution such as a prison (as a convict) or hospital (as a patient)
  • A person who occupies or dwells within a dwelling-house. The word came to be used to refer to temporary inhabitants such as guests in a hotel, students in an on-campus dormitory, patients in a hospital, or prisoners.

    • Usage notes

    Perhaps around 1970, television journalists began to use the word as a euphemism for "prisoner", and today perhaps many young people cannot remember that it ever had any other meaning.

    Anagrams

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