hostage
中文来自 ECDICT
- n.
- 人质，抵押品
演变路径（由近及远）
- 英语
- 继承自 ←中古英语 hostage
- 源自 ←古法语 hostage
- 源自 ←通俗拉丁语 obsidāticum “condition of being held captive”
词源说明
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.
释义（英文）
名词 Noun
- A person given as a pledge or security for the performance of the conditions of a treaty or similar agreement, such as to ensure the status of a vassal.
- A person seized in order to compel another party to act (or refrain from acting) in a certain way, because of the threat of harm to the hostage.
- Something that constrains one's actions because it is at risk