Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - confine

 I. noun  Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French or Latin; Anglo-French ~s, plural, from Latin ~ border, from neuter of confinis adjacent, from com- + finis end  Date: 15th century  1. plural  a. something (as borders or walls) that encloses outside the ~s of the office or hospital — W. A. Nolen; also something that restrains escape from the ~s of soot and clutter — E. S. Muskie  b. scope 3 work within the ~s of a small group — Frank Newman  2.  a. archaic restriction  b. obsolete prison  II. verb  (~d; confining)  Date: 1523  intransitive verb archaic border  transitive verb  1.  a. to hold within a location  b. imprison  2. to keep within limits will ~ my remarks to one subject  Synonyms: see limit  • ~r noun