hostage

英 ['h?st?d?] 美['hɑst?d?]

TEM4IELTS考研CET6常用詞匯中高頻詞

復數(shù):?hostages;

東道主（host）詢問，人質的年齡（age）

hostage 人質

來自古法語hostage,客人，作為抵押的人質，來自拉丁語hospes,客人，來自PIE*ghostis,外來人，陌生人，詞源同guest.

hostage: hostage: [13] Despite its similarity, hostage is not related to any of the English words host. It comes via Old French hostage from *obsidāticum, a Vulgar Latin derivative of late Latin obsidātus ‘condition of being held as a security for the fulfilment of an undertaking’. This is turn was based on Latin obses ‘hostage’, a compound noun formed from the prefix ob- ‘before’ and the base of sedēre ‘sit’ (English obsess [16] is made up of virtually the same elements). The use of hostage for the ‘person held’ was established before English took it over.
=> obsess
hostage (n.): late 13c., from Old French hostage "person given as security or hostage" (12c., Modern French ?tage), either from hoste "guest" (see host (n.1)) via notion of "a lodger held by a landlord as security," or from Late Latin obsidanus "condition of being held as security," from obses "hostage," from ob- "before" + base of sedere "to sit" [OED]. Modern political/terrorism sense is from 1970.

2. The hostage release could clear the decks for war.: 人質的獲釋可能會為發(fā)動戰(zhàn)爭掃清障礙。

3. The reporting of the hostage story was fair, if sometimes overblown.: 盡管這篇關于人質的報道有些夸大其詞，但還算公正。

4. The former hostage is in remarkably good shape considering his ordeal.: 想想人質曾遭受的折磨，獲救后其身體狀況已經是出奇地好了。

5. There are conflicting reports about the identity of the hostage.: 有關人質身份的報道相互矛盾。