IMPRIS'ONMENT, noun The act of putting and confining in prison; the act of arresting and detaining in custody. 1. Confinement in a place; restraint of liberty to go from place to place at pleasure. Appropriately, the confinement of a criminal or debtor within the walls of a prison, or in the custody of a sheriff, etc. False imprisonment is any confinement of the person, or restraint of liberty, without legal or sufficient authority. The arrest or detention of the person by an officer without warrant, or by an illegal warrant, or by a legal warrant executed at an unlawful time, is false imprisonment
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI