In English law, imprisonment is the restraint of a person's liberty. The book Termes de la Ley contains the following definition:Imprisonment is no other thing than the restraint of a man's liberty, whether it be in the open field, or in the stocks, or in the cage in the streets or in a man's own house, as well as in the common gaols; and in all the places the party so restrained is said to be a prisoner so long as he hath not his liberty freely to go at all times to all places whither he will without bail or mainprise or otherwise.This passage was approved by Atkin and Duke LJJ in Meering v Grahame White Aviation Co. It is not imprisonment to prevent a person from proceeding along a particular way if it is possible for him to reach his intended destination by another route. Imprisonment without lawful cause is a tort called false imprisonment. Imprisonment is a type of sentence.