quarantine

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)A period of 40 days, particularly

   “Now the Question seems to lye thus, where lay the Seeds of the Infection all this while? How came it to stop so long, and not stop any longer? Either the Distemper did not come immediately by Contagion from Body to Body, or if it did, then a Body may be capable to continue infected, without the Disease discovering itself, many Days, nay Weeks together, even not a Quarantine of Days only, but Soixantine, not only 40 Days but 60 Days or longer.”

2. (countable, historical, uncountable)A period of 40 days, particularly

   “Querentyne is where a man dyeth seisyd of a maner place and other landis where of the wyfe ought to be indowed, than the woman shall hold the maner place by .xl. days within which tyme her dower shalbe to her assyned.”

3. (countable, historical, uncountable)A period of 40 days, particularly
4. (countable, historical, uncountable)A period of 40 days, particularly

   “Quarantain of the King, is a Truce of forty Days appointed by S. Louis; during which it was expressly forbid to take any Revenge of the Relation or Friends of People.”

   “Forty days, called the King's quarantain, were allowed the friends or relations of a principal in a private war to grant or find security.”

5. (countable, uncountable)A period, instance, or state of isolation from the general public or from native livestock and flora enacted to prevent the spread of any contagious disease.

   “The tourists were put in quarantine to ensure none of them would be able to spread the plague.”

   “From Toulon... Our Gallyes which were upon the point of finishing their Quarantaine, and entering into this Port, have been hindred from it by th'arrival of three others that were out a roaming.”

   “Making of all ships coming from thence... to perform their Quarantine (for 30 days as Sir Richard Browne expressed it... contrary to the import of the word; though in the general acceptation, it signifies now the thing, not the time spent in doing it).”

   “This dreadful malady might be annihilated by making all the dogs in Great Britain perform a kind of quarantine, by shutting them up for a certain number of weeks.”

   “The lady stared; but a single question elicited the fatal truth—the vessel was under quarantine, and once on board there was no quitting it.”

6. (countable, figuratively, uncountable)A similar period, instance, or state of rigidly enforced or self-enforced detention or isolation.

   “Now treating Sandwich seems the fittest choice For Spain, there to condole and to rejoyce: He meets the French, but to avoid all harms, Slips into Groine, Embassies bears no Arms. There let him languish a long Quarrentine, And ne're to England come, till he be clean.”

   “What I wish to put under Quarantine are family events—& all allusion thereto past—present—or to come.”

7. (countable, uncountable)A place where such isolation is enforced, a lazaret.

   “They bring wood, millet, rye, barley, and a little wheat to the quarantine to barter with the Cossaks for salt.”

8. (countable, figuratively, uncountable)A blockade of trade, suspension of diplomatic relations, or other action whereby one country seeks to isolate another.

   “When a great power establishes diplomatic quarantine against them it is well not to go too far on a course on which they appear to be embarking with a light heart.”

   “President Roosevelt today challenged the effectiveness of a policy of neutrality in keeping the United States at peace and advocated instead a collective ‘quarantine’ of aggressor nations.”

   “To halt this offensive buildup, a strict quarantine on all offensive military equipment under shipment to Cuba is being initiated. All ships of any kind bound for Cuba from whatever nation or port will, if found to contain cargoes of offensive weapons, be turned back. This quarantine will be extended, if needed, to other types of cargo and carries.”

9. (countable, figuratively, uncountable)An isolation of one program, drive, computer, etc. from the rest of a computer network to limit the damage from a bug, computer virus, etc.

   “Also included is Canary, a ‘quarantine’ program for use as a sample to test for a virus by pairing it with new or suspect programs.”

   “At least one expert says... that a quarantine can be futile if the software is infected with a time-activated virus.”

10. (countable, figuratively, uncountable)The program, drive, computer, etc. thus isolated.

    “If they click on the link then they're added to your approved senders list and their message is moved to your inbox; if they don't, the message stays in quarantine.”

verb

1. (transitive)To place into isolation to prevent the spread of any contagious disease.

   “Venice began quarantining incoming ships for 40 days in 1448 to prevent further outbreaks of bubonic plague.”

   “We... sent our boat on board a French man of war lying in the bay, with a letter for our consul; captain Murray not wishing to have any communication with the shore, for fear of being quarantined at the next port he went to.”

   “On sanitary grounds Morocco could certainly show better cause for placing a quarantine on Spain than Spain for quarantining Morocco.”

2. (intransitive)To enter or stay in quarantine, particularly to self-quarantine to avoid an epidemic disease.

   “International travelers must quarantine themselves at their own expense in a designated hotel for 14 days upon arrival.”

   “The Mauretania... is expected to ‘quarantine’ at New York at 10 a.m. tomorrow.”

   “She brought her dog home, and that's a big step. Dogs have to quarantine for six months in England.”

   “Australians returning from overseas have been required to quarantine for 14 days since 15 March, with mandatory stays inside hotel rooms enforced since 29 March.”

3. (intransitive, obsolete)To impose a quarantine, to establish quarantine regulations.

   “It has just been announced that Norfolk, Va., and Holly Springs, Miss., have quarantined against Memphis.”

4. (figuratively, transitive)Synonym of isolate more generally.

   “J.F.K. "quarantined" Cuba rather than blockading it to avoid needless escalation of the conflict.”

   “...where I should be detained, Quarantined, smoaked & vinegard...”

   “No computer system or even individual PC is safe from a virus unless it is isolated—quarantined, in effect—from all others.”

5. (figuratively, transitive)Synonym of restrict.

   “Did any moral taint hang about me that quarantined my entrance into its circle?”

   “The parliament of the island... quarantined Great Britain against sending any potatoes into the island.”

name

1. (alt-of, obsolete)Alternative letter-case form of Quarantine: the Mount of Temptation where Jesus Christ supposedly fasted for 40 days, Jebel Quruntul near Jericho.

   “By yonde ys a wyldernys of quarentyne, Wher Cryst wyth fastyng hys body dyd pyne; In that holy place, as we rede, The deuyl wold had of stonys bred.”

2. (dated)Synonym of Mount of Temptation.

   “Than turned we vp in to Quarantene”