A prison or jail, especially in British English; a place where people convicted of crimes are held.
From Old Norman French 'gaiol' or 'jaole,' which derived from Latin 'caveola,' a diminutive of 'cavea' meaning cage or hollow place. The spelling with 'g' is a legacy of Norman French influence on English.
The British spelling 'gaol' is a fascinating fossil in the English language—it's pronounced like 'jail' but spelled from a completely different historical route, showing how Norman French pronunciation evolved differently than spelling.
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