What does ransom mean?
A ransom is money, or sometimes another payment, demanded for the release of someone being held captive. The related verb means to secure that release by paying the demanded amount or fulfilling the captors' conditions. In modern usage, the word is most strongly associated with kidnapping, hostage negotiations, and demands made by criminals, although it can also describe the recovery of a kidnapped person by state authorities or the payment made by family members. Figuratively, to ransom something can mean to spend a great deal of money or effort to recover it, as when a company pays a specialist to retrieve lost data. The word carries a serious and often dramatic tone, but it is also used in journalism, history, literature, and discussion of international hostage diplomacy. Its central idea is a person or thing being held against a captor until a price is met.
A sum of money or other payment demanded in exchange for the release of a person or property held captive.
"The police intercepted a message containing a ransom demand."
The payment itself and the demand for payment are both commonly called a ransom.
To obtain the release of a captive by paying money or fulfilling another condition imposed by the captor.
"The government negotiated with the captors to ransom the hostages."
The verb is often used figuratively when a large payment or effort is needed to recover someone or something.
Ransom is usually singular when referring to one demand or payment, but the plural is used for multiple demands or instances of ransom.
"The authorities rejected the kidnappers' two separate ransoms."
From buying someone back to being bought back yourself, ransom has long been a powerful bargaining word: a kidnapper makes a demand, and the negotiator answers with a price.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does ransom come from?
The word comes through Middle English from Old French rançon, meaning a payment demanded for the release of a prisoner. Old French rançon was borrowed from Latin redemptio, a noun related to redimere, “to buy back” or “to redeem.” The same Latin root underlies modern English words such as redeem, redemption, and redemptive.
Related word forms
How ransom is actually used
Ransom is strongly associated with kidnapping, captivity, and criminal threats, but it is also used figuratively for the recovery of a person, object, or valuable possession. In figurative use, it often suggests that the cost of recovery is high or the means used are extreme.
Easily confused with ransom
Ransom usually involves holding someone or something captive and demanding payment for its release, whereas blackmail is a broader term for obtaining money or another benefit through threats, intimidation, or exposure of damaging information.