n. 人质

词根 hospit, host= guest 客人 hospitable adj. 好客的 hospit 客人 + able …的 → 好客的 hospital n. 医院 hospit 客人 + al 表名词 → 把病人当客人的地方 → 医院 host n. 主人（原意指招待客人的人） hostage n. 人质 host 客人 + age 表行为 → 把客人〔留住〕→ 人质 hostel n. 旅馆 host 客人 + el 表地点 → 客人住的地方 → 旅馆 hostess n. 女主人 host 客人 + ess 表女性 → 女主人

prisoner hostage captive detainee prisoner of war These are all words for a person who has been captured and is being kept somewhere. 以上各词和短语均指被捕获、关押的人。 prisoner a person who has been captured, for example by an enemy, and is being kept somewhere 指被（敌人等）关起来的人、俘虏、战俘。 注释 The more frequent meaning of prisoner is ‘a person who is kept in prison’. prisoner较常用的意思为囚犯、犯人。 hostage a person who is captured and held prisoner by a person or group, and who may be injured or killed if people do not do what the person or group is asking 指人质 captive ( literary ) a person who is kept as a prisoner 指囚徒、俘虏 用prisoner还是captive？ Captive often occurs in more historical contexts involving people such as kings, queens and princesses. It is also sometimes found in references to political organizations holding people against their will. Prisoner is more often used to talk about people who have been captured in war. captive常用于涉及国王、王后、公主等人物的历史背景中，有时亦指政治组织关押持异见者。prisoner较常用以指战俘、俘虏。 detainee a person who is kept in prison, especially for political reasons and often without a trial 尤指因政治原因，通常是未经审讯被扣留、关押的人 prisoner of war a person, usually a member of the armed forces, who is captured by the enemy during a war and kept in a prison camp until the war has finished 指战俘 常用搭配 to hold / keep sb prisoner / hostage / captive to free / release a prisoner / hostage / captive / detainee / a prisoner of war to set free a prisoner / hostage / captive to take sb prisoner / hostage / captive to capture a prisoner / hostage a political prisoner / hostage / detainee