pénitentiaire

penitentiary, relating to prisons

adjective peh-nee-tahn-SYEHR Rare

Usage Note

Pénitentiaire is exclusively used in legal and administrative language; one says établissement pénitentiaire (prison facility) or régime pénitentiaire (prison regime). The noun pénitencier means 'penitentiary' (the building). It does not change form between masculine and feminine: un centre pénitentiaire / une structure pénitentiaire.

Examples

"Il travaille dans un établissement pénitentiaire."

Natural Translation

He works in a penitentiary facility.

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