mahkum

Mahkum is a Turkish noun and adjective meaning a person who has been legally convicted of a crime and is serving a sentence, or more generally a prisoner. As a noun, it refers to a convict; plural form is mahkumlar. As an adjective, it can describe someone who has a conviction, though in everyday language it more often appears in noun phrases. Related terms include mahkûmiyet (the state or condition of being convicted) and hükümlü (a person under sentence).

Origin and usage: The term derives from Arabic through Ottoman Turkish, reflecting a legal status rather than a physical location. In Turkish legal language and media, mahkum denotes someone judged by a court and subject to punishment, typically imprisonment, though the exact penalty may vary by case. The form mahkûm (with the diacritic in older spellings) is an older or more formal rendering; modern Turkish often writes it as mahkum.

Forms and related expressions: Verbs related to the term include mahkûm etmek (to convict) and mahkûm olmak (to be convicted). The noun form mahkûmiyet or mahkumiyet similarly denotes the condition of being convicted. Another related term is hükümlü, which emphasizes the status of someone under a sentence rather than the act of conviction itself.

See also: mahkûmiyet, hüküm, cezai sorumluluk, hükümlü. The word is generally used in appropriate legal or journalistic contexts and is less common in casual speech when referring to a general wrongdoing without the outcome of a formal conviction.