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 ôtage), 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.
双语例句
1. The class was held hostage by a hooded gunman.
全班同学被一个蒙面的持枪歹徒劫为人质。
来自柯林斯例句
2. The hostage release could clear the decks for war.
人质的获释可能会为发动战争扫清障碍。
来自柯林斯例句
3. The reporting of the hostage story was fair, if sometimes overblown.
尽管这篇关于人质的报道有些夸大其词，但还算公正。
来自柯林斯例句
4. The former hostage is in remarkably good shape considering his ordeal.
想想人质曾遭受的折磨，获救后其身体状况已经是出奇地好了。
来自柯林斯例句
5. There are conflicting reports about the identity of the hostage.