quarantine
Other forms: quarantined; quarantines; quarantining
If you contract something highly infectious, such as pinkeye, please quarantine yourself so that you don’t infect others with it. This means you’ll have to stay in isolation and avoid contact with other people.
Starting in the 16th century, a quarantine lasted specifically 40 days. The word is in fact derived from the Latin quadraginta, which means "forty." Originally, this referred to the amount of time a widow could remain in her deceased husband’s house, then referred to the period of time a ship had to wait off a country’s port if its passengers were disease-stricken. Now, it can mean a period of isolation of any length, and can be used as both a verb and a noun.
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isolation to prevent the spread of infectious disease
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enforced isolation of patients suffering from a contagious disease in order to prevent the spread of diseasetype of:isolationa state of separation between persons or groups
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place into enforced isolation, as for medical reasons
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Vocabulary lists containing quarantine
Mattie Cook's simple life in Philadelphia is shattered when an epidemic of yellow fever rages through the city in the summer of 1793. Attempting to flee with her grandfather, Mattie finds that escaping disaster won't be so simple.
On October 22, 1962, President John F. Kennedy delivered a televised address to the American public regarding the former Soviet Union’s military presence in Cuba. Kennedy reported the presence of offensive missile sites presumably intended to launch a nuclear attack against Western nations. The President characterized this move on the part of the U.S.S.R. as an imminent threat to American security and laid out his proposed course of action.