ransom

A ransom is the money or goods demanded to be paid in exchange for the release of a captured or kidnapped person or piece of property.

Ransom also commonly refers to the amount of money that the captor demands.

It can also refer to such an exchange or the act of releasing a person or property for a price, as in The duke’s ransom depended on his wife gathering all the money demanded. 

Ransom can also be used as a verb meaning to get a person or property released by paying a price, as in I had to ransom my toy from the bully for $10.

It can also mean to release a captive after receiving a ransom, as in Each prisoner was ransomed for $500. 

Less commonly, ransom can be used in a religious context to mean to redeem or deliver someone from punishment for sin, as Christians believe Jesus did.

A person who holds someone in exchange for a ransom is called a ransomer.

Ransomware is software that is illegally put on a computer and prevents users from accessing their data without paying a ransom.

Example: The kidnapper demanded a hefty ransom before he released the princess to her father.

The first records of the word ransom come from the 1100s. It ultimately comes from the Late Latin redēmptiō, meaning “redemption.” The verb ransom is derived from the noun usage.

Ransom is used in the idiom king’s ransom, which means a large amount of money or valuables. As you might guess, a captured king could be ransomed for a large amount of money. In fact, the German emperor Henry VI ransomed King Richard “the Lionheart” I of England in 1193 for 150,000 German marks, a huge amount of money at that time.

Today, the word ransom is often used to refer to a price that someone is demanding to safely release their prisoner or captured property. Property can include data found in a computer system, such as a person’s bank account number, passwords, or government ID number. Software that allows data to be taken for ransom is called ransomware.

What are some other forms related to ransom?

• ransomer (noun)
• unransomed (adjective)

What are some words that share a root or word element with ransom? 

• king’s ransom
• ransomware
• redeem
• redemption

What are some words that often get used in discussing ransom?

• kidnap
• hijack
• capture
• captive
• money
• payment
• demands

Ransom is associated with kidnapping, hijacking, and data theft, but it can also be used in figurative ways.

On Tuesday at around 1:45 a.m. local time, in southern Niger, US citizen named Philipe Nathan Walton was kidnapped by 6 men with AK-47s on motorbikes, per media. The armed kidnappers called his father, who lives about a mile away, and demanded ransom, a local official said.

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— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) October 31, 2020

Reports 29 Chinese fishermen kidnapped at sea by armed North Koreans, who are demanding ransom of $190,000

— Mark Willacy (@markwillacy) May 17, 2012

Detailed medical histories and contact information of 80K+ patients in Ontario allegedly held for ransom after data breach at CarePartners healthcare provider (CBC News) https://t.co/dM3NUjmwJT

— Richard Lemon (@RichardLemon) July 19, 2018

Is ransom used correctly in the following sentence?

The kidnappers ransomed the prisoners back to their families after receiving a large payment.