rhizoverbBeta
DictionaryransomPayment for release
noun / verb

ransom

RAN-suhm/ˈrænsəm/

A payment demanded or made to release someone or something held captive.

The kidnappers demand a ransom before they release the prisoner.

A captor guards a worried seated captive behind a barred doorway and demands a heavy purse held out by a arriving negotiator; open palm toward money, restrained nonviolent scene, no weapons.
Etymology
ransomLatina buying back; release

Latin redemptio described buying someone or something back. Ransom names the payment that secures that release, rather than the act of redeeming itself.

In context

U.S. Naval War College99:42
example so in the cyber context if we have a non-combatant who uses deception to infect some computer systems with malware and then this person this non-combatant attempts to extract ransom from the users of those computers
Disruptive Technologies in International Law: Day Two of Three

More examples

  • Her family refuses to pay the ransom.
  • The stolen painting is held for ransom.
  • The sailors were ransomed with money raised by their families.

Forms

ransom · ransoms · ransomed · ransoming

Similar words

payment
General term for money given, not specifically for release.
bail
Secures temporary release from legal custody, rather than from captors.