A person whose job is to watch over and take care of prisoners in a jail.
From jail (from Old French gaole) combined with the agent suffix -er. Jail comes from Norman French and Latin cavea meaning 'cage' or 'enclosure.'
The word 'jailer' used to be spelled 'gaoler' in British English, which is why it doesn't sound like it's spelled—the 'g' was originally pronounced. This spelling difference between American 'jail' and British 'gaol' is one of the most unusual divergences in English.
Jailer roles were historically male-coded professions; women in carceral systems faced dual marginalization and were often invisible in institutional histories.
Use neutrally for any gender; acknowledge that carceral professions had gendered hierarchies.
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