ransom

Definitions  ·  Examples  ·  Pronunciations  ·  Etymologies  ·  Related  ·  Statistics  ·  Comments  · 
“
The group's $300,000 share of the ransom was also lost, he said.

View all »
Definitions (20)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (6)

  1. noun The release of property or a person in return for payment of a demanded price.
  2. noun The price or payment demanded or paid for such release.
  3. noun A redemption from sin and its consequences.
3 more from this dictionary »

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (8)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (2)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (4)

Toggle elsewhere links Elsewhere on the web

View all »
Examples (50)

  • The client was shocked when the culprit asked again whether the ransom is already ready. —  Anime Nano!
  • The group's $300,000 share of the ransom was also lost, he said. —  AL JAZEERA ENGLISH (AJE)
  • According to businessmen on shore, the ransom was around $3 million and the money was dropped by parachute from a small plane, which seems to be the new way to deliver pirate booty. —  The Duck of Minerva
  • Yes, we also see local businessmen, usually of Chinese or Indian origin, but those kidnappings are criminal gangs, not Alqaeda, and the ransom is a lot smaller, since their families pay it. —  Blogger News Network
  • The crews 10 day ordeal ended on May 27 after a ransom was allegedly paid. —  The Times of India
More examples »
 

Tags

ransom hasn't been tagged yet.

Sign up or sign in to add tags.

Stats

This word has been looked up 118 times.

stop updating
On Twitter

Photos from

flickr images

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English ransome, from Old French rançon, from Latin redēmptiō, redēmptiōn-, a buying back; see redemption.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. Early modern English also ransome, raunsom; from Middle English ransome, raunsom, rawnsome, ranson, ransoun, raunson, raunsun, rawnison (for the change of n to m, cf. random) = Dutch rantsoen = Middle Low German Low German ranzūn, ransūn = German ranzion = Danish ranson = Swedish ranson, from Old French rançon, rençon, raenson, raenchon, French rançon = Provencal reemsos, rezempto, modern rançoun, from Latin redemptio (n-), ransom, redemption: see redemption, of which ransom is a much shrunken form.
  2. Early modern English also raunsome; from Middle English *raunsonen, raunceounen, from Old French rançonner, ransom; from the noun.
 

Pronunciations
Record your own »
/ˈrænsəm/
by American Heritage

Charts
frequency chart

Bubble size: how much this word was used in a year

Bubble height: used more or less than expected, vs. all uses evenly distributed

You can expect to see this word about once a week.

Recently looked up

implacable · draper · caustically · crepuscular · Flurry's

Recent Favorites

pygopagus · sanglant · Astacus · sweetbread · qualms

Recent Pronunciations

Der dicke Dachdecker deckte dir dein Dach, drum dank dem dicken Dachdecker, dass der dicke Dachdecker dir dein Dach deckte. · weitläufig · und wenn sie nicht gestorben sind, so leben sie noch heute · redescheu · selbstverständlich