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An Inmate

  1. A person confined to an institution such as a prison (as a convict) or hospital (as a patient).
  2. A person who shares a residence, such as a lodger, a hotel guest, or a student living on campus.

|Usage

Perhaps around 1970, television journalists began to use the word as a euphemism for prisoner, and this has become the primary, if not only, definition among younger generations.