captive

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“
By him the captive was at first thrown into a dreary dungeon, and no care was taken of his many wounds.

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Definitions (25)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (7)

  1. noun One, such as a prisoner of war, who is forcibly confined, subjugated, or enslaved.
  2. noun One held in the grip of a strong emotion or passion.
  3. adjective Taken and held prisoner, as in war.
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Examples (50)

  • The interview of Peronne followed; Charles held his visitor as a captive, and in the end compelled him to sign a treaty, of peace, on the basis of that of Conflans, which had closed the War of the Public Weal. —  The Entire Memoirs of Marguerite de Valois
  • Why was Monk taken there For a moment the captive was astounded to find himself tied in the cockpit seat. —  096 - Bequest of Evil
  • While Bernadotte was preparing to fill the high station to which he had been called by the wishes of the people of Sweden, Napoleon was involved in his misunderstanding with the Pope It was about this time that, irritated at what he called the captive Pope's unreasonable obstinacy, Bonaparte conceived, and somewhat openly expressed, his notion of making France s Protestant country, and changing the religion of 30,000,000 of people by an Imperial decree. —  The Memoirs of Napoleon, V11, 1812
  • "Your captive is awake, Conan," said the Wazuli girl, and he grunted, strode up to the fire and swept the strips of mutton off into a stone dish. —  Conan -- The Stories from Weird Tales (1932-1936)
  • His control over his captive was absolute. —  Folkways A Study of the Sociological Importance of Usages, Manners, Customs, Mores, and Morals
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Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English captif, from Old French, from Latin captīvus, from captus, past participle of capere, to seize; see kap- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. In earlier English caitiff, now with different sense (see caitiff); = French captif, feminine captive, Old French chetif, etc. (see caitiff), = Provencal captiu, caitiu = Old Catalan caitiu = Old Spanish captivo, Spanish cautivo = Portuguese cativo, captivo = Italian cattivo, from Latin captivus, a captive, properly adjective, taken prisoner, from captus, past participle of capere, take, seize, capture, etc.: see capable.
  2. = French captiver = Provencal captivar = Spanish cautivar = Portuguese cativar, captivar = Italian cattivare, from Latin captivare (see captivate, v.), from captivus, captive: see captive, adjective and n.
 

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/ˈkæptɪv/
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