prisoner
pri·son·er/ˈpɹɪzənɚ/noun
prisoner is spelled P-R-I-S-O-N-E-R: 8 letters and 3 syllables (pri·son·er). It appears 16 times per million words in written English, the 5,121st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, prisoner means “A person incarcerated in a prison, while on trial or serving a sentence” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of prisoner is prisoners.
How many letters and syllables are in prisoner?
| Letters | 8: P-R-I-S-O-N-E-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: pri·son·er |
| In writing | 16 times per million words; the 5,121st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is prisoner?
Prisoner appears 16 times per million words in written English, the 5,121st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce prisoner?
- UK /ˈpɹɪzənə/
- UK /ˈpɹɪznə/
- US /ˈpɹɪzənɚ/
Prisoner has 3 syllables, split pri·son·er in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-prisoner.wav, En-us-prisoner.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Grendelkhan-prisoner.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of prisoner
- prisoners plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does prisoner mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A person incarcerated in a prison, while on trial or serving a sentence.
Two other prisoners were staying in the same cell as him.
- 2
Any person held against their will.
- 3
A person who is or feels confined or trapped by a situation or a set of circumstances.
I am no longer a prisoner to fear, for I am a child of God.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Prisoner in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense person incarcerated in a prison:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | prisonnier, prisonnière |
| German | Gefangener, Gefangene, Häftling, Strafgefangener, Gefängnisinsasse |
| Portuguese | prisioneiro, preso |
| Spanish | prisionero, preso |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does prisoner come from?
From Middle English prisoner, from Old French prisonier (compare Medieval Latin prisōnārius), equivalent to prison + -er.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).