Usage patterns 〈 人ひと 〉 を 監かん 獄ごく に 入い れる to put someone in prison
The man committed a crime and was put in prison.
監かん 獄ごく から 脱だっ 走そう する to escape from prison
A prisoner escaped from the prison.
監かん 獄ごく で 服ふく 役えき する to serve a prison sentence
He served five years in prison.
Kanji 監 oversee, official, govt office Related words 監獄 is an older, more general term for a prison, while 刑務所 is the modern official term for a facility under the Ministry of Justice where convicts serve sentences.
監獄 can refer broadly to any prison facility, whereas 拘置所 specifically holds suspects and defendants awaiting trial.
牢獄 is a more literary or dramatic word for a prison, often used in historical or emotional contexts, while 監獄 is a plain formal/legal term.
獄 is a single-kanji, classical/literary word for prison often used in compounds like 出獄 , while 監獄 is the standalone noun for the actual institution.
監獄 is the formal word for a prison facility as an institution, while 檻 focuses on the physical barred enclosure itself.
Written forms 監かん 獄ごく Usage 100%
Standard kanji spelling; common in news and formal contexts.
カンゴク Usage <1%
Etymology Compound of 監 (かん , 'oversee, watch') and 獄 (ごく , 'prison, jail'). The kanji 監 suggests surveillance, while 獄 originally referred to a place of confinement. The word has been used in Japanese since at least the Edo period.
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