hostage English · revision 14999

+ {{infobox|confidence=disputed|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1275}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈhɒs.tɪdʒ/, US /ˈhɑː.stɪdʒ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|ostage]], [[bor|fro|ostage|t=kindness, lodging, pledge, a person given as security]] (modern [[fr|otage]]),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) of uncertain origin.^(Etymonline) Barnhart, Watkins and Merriam-Webster derive it from [[m|fro|oste|t=guest]] (see [[host]]), through the idea of a lodger held by a landlord as security.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) The OED, Hoad and the NODE derive it instead from [[la-lat|obsidātus|t=the state of being a hostage]], from [[la|obses|t=hostage]], from [[m|la|ob-|t=before]] and the root of [[m|la|sedeō|t=to sit]], with the h added under the influence of host.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The handing over of a person as a pledge, and a person so held: about 1275 in the OED, the late 13th century in Etymonline, about 1300 in Barnhart.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Originally an ally or enemy handed over a hostage as security for an undertaking; now hostages are taken, and seldom given willingly.^(Cresswell 2021) Any pledge or security is from about 1400, as in ''to give hostages to fortune''.^(OED 1989)^(Cresswell 2021) The modern sense, a person seized by criminals or a political group to obtain demands, is first recorded in the 1970s.^(Barnhart 1988) The verb, to give as a hostage, is from 1624.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1275 – a hostage, a pledge.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1400 – any pledge or security.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1624 – to hostage (verb).^(OED 1989)

+ * 1970s – a person seized to obtain demands.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person held by one party as security that demands or terms will be met.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The state of being held as a hostage.^(Collins 2023)

+ # Any security or pledge.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''give hostages to fortune'': to risk misfortune through what one values most.^(Collins 2023)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[hostageship]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[host]]

+ * [[hostel]]

+ * [[hotel]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ An obsolete hostage, an inn or hostelry (about 1440), is a separate word.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}