Link Centre Dictionary

hostage

hos·tage

UK/ˈhɒs.tɪd͡ʒ/ US/ˈhɑs.tɪd͡ʒ/ common

noun

1.

a prisoner who is held by one party to insure that another party will meet specified terms

Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English hostage, ostage, from Old French hostage, ostage. This, in turn, is either from Old French hoste (“host”) + -age (in which case the sense development is from taking someone into "lodging" to taking them into "captivity", to applying the term to a captive), or is from Vulgar Latin obsidāticum (“condition of being held captive”), from Latin obses (“hostage, captive”), with the initial h- added under the influence of hoste or another word. Displaced native Old English ġīsl.

Phrases

  • hold hostage
  • hostage diplomacy
  • hostage negotiator
  • hostage taker
  • hostage to fortune
  • take hostage

Related words

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.