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Webster 1913 Edition


Inmate

In′mateˊ

(ĭn′mātˊ)
,
Noun.
[
In
+
mate
an associate.]
One who lives in the same house or apartment with another; a fellow lodger;
esp.,
one of the occupants of an asylum, hospital, or prison;
by extension,
one who occupies or lodges in any place or dwelling.
So spake the enemy of mankind, inclos’d
In serpent,
inmate
bad.
Milton.

In′mateˊ

,
Adj.
Admitted as a dweller; resident; internal.
[R.]
Inmate guests.”
Milton.

Webster 1828 Edition


Inmate

IN'MATE

,
Noun.
[in or inn, and mate.] A person who lodges or dwells in the same house with another, occupying different rooms, but using the same door for passing in and out of the house.
1.
A lodger; one who lives with a family, but is not otherwise connected with it than as a lodger.

IN'MATE

,
Adj.
Admitted as a dweller.

Definition 2024


inmate

inmate

English

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 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.

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