temple confinement as punishment
Historical practice, common in the late Muromachi and Azuchi-Momoyama periods, where a criminal was placed in the custody of a temple as a form of punishment. Compare with 寺入り (sense 2).
See also: 寺入り
During the Sengoku period, criminals were sometimes placed in temple confinement.
Temple confinement functioned as a kind of custodial sentence.
Compound of 寺 (temple) and 預け (custody, from 預ける 'to leave in someone's care'). The term reflects the historical practice of entrusting a criminal to a temple for confinement and rehabilitation.