a place where people are confined while awaiting trial or for punishment after conviction; prison
No man will be a sailor who has the contrivance to get himself into jail … A man in jail has more room, better food, and commonly better company — Dr Johnson
Middle English jaiole from Old French, and gayole from Anglo-French gaole, both ultimately from Latin cavea: see cage1. Middle English gayole survives in gaol, the usual spelling in British official use, which was pronounced with a hard g (as in goat) at least until the 17th cent