Origin: Latin suffix -tion
Detention has 3 different meanings across 1 category:
a state of being confined (usually for a short time)
"his detention was politically motivated"
"the prisoner is on hold"
"he is in the custody of police"
a punishment in which a student must stay at school after others have gone home
"the detention of tardy pupils"
The act of detaining or the state of being detained.
"The students were sent to detention after disrupting the class."
In plain English: Detention is when you have to stay at school after everyone else leaves because of bad behavior.
"The students who were late had to stay in detention after school."
Usage: In school contexts, detention refers to mandatory after-school punishment where students remain on campus under supervision. In legal settings, it describes holding someone in custody pending trial rather than a permanent sentence like imprisonment.
The word entered English via Middle French and Latin as a noun formed from the verb "detain." It originally carried the same meaning of holding someone or something in custody that it does today.