hostage

Definitions

hostage traces back to the idea of a person handed over and *lodged* in another camp as a pledge or security — a 'guest' held among potential enemies. It sits in the unstable space between the welcoming hospes (guest) and the threatening hostis (enemy). The modern sense is its violent extreme: someone held captive to force the other side's hand.

Why It Means This

A hostage was originally less a victim than a guarantee. When two sides struck a deal — a treaty, a ransom, a truce — one party might hand over a person to live in the other's camp as a living pledge that promises would be kept. That 'guest among enemies' is exactly the tension in the hospit family. Only later did the word harden into today's meaning: a captive seized by force to extract demands.

Common Collocations

• 1.take hostage劫持人质
• 2.hold hostage扣为人质
• 3.hostage situation人质事件
• 4.release hostages释放人质
• 5.hostage crisis人质危机

Example Sentences

• 1.

  The gunman took three employees hostage during the robbery.

• 2.

  Negotiators worked through the night to free the hostages.

• 3.

  All the hostages were released unharmed after two days.