A Hostage Is Held for What Someone Else Will Do
A hostage is a person held to force someone else to act. That is what separates a hostage from an ordinary prisoner.
A hostage is held not for what they have done but for what someone else might do. That is the whole definition: the value of a hostage lies in the pressure they put on a third party. Medieval treaties formalised it — princes were exchanged as living guarantees that the terms would be kept.
- A person held to force another's action. *The hostages were released.*
- A guarantee given under a treaty (historical). *Sons were sent as hostages.*
- Hostage to fortune — an act that leaves you exposed. *That promise is a hostage to fortune.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | hostage | A single hostage. |
| Plural | hostages | Twelve hostages. |
| Compound | hostage-taker | The hostage-takers fled. |
| Phrase | take hostage | They took him hostage. |
| Phrase | held hostage | Held hostage for a week. |
How it is used in a sentence
- Negotiators worked through the night.Hostage situations have their own vocabulary.
- He was taken hostage at the border.Take hostage takes no article.
- The budget is held hostage by one committee.A common political metaphor.
Related terms
- Kidnapping — taking a person, usually for ransom
- Abduction — taking a person by force, the legal term
- Ransom — payment demanded for release
- Captive — anyone held against their will
- Prisoner of war — held under the laws of armed conflict
From Old French *hostage*, from Latin *obsidem*, hostage, from *obsidere*, to sit opposite or besiege. The phrase *hostage to fortune* comes from Francis Bacon, writing in 1625 about the risks a man takes when he marries.
Hostage or kidnap victim?
They overlap. A kidnap victim is taken; a hostage is held to force someone else to act. Many people are both.
What does *hostage to fortune* mean?
Something you do or promise that could be used against you later if circumstances change.