{"id":24047,"date":"2025-05-21T14:50:21","date_gmt":"2025-05-21T14:50:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/?p=24047"},"modified":"2025-05-24T22:18:07","modified_gmt":"2025-05-24T22:18:07","slug":"hosting-hostages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/?p=24047","title":{"rendered":"Hosting Hostages"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Are the words <strong>hostage<\/strong> and <strong>host<\/strong> related? Let&#8217;s find out.<\/p>\n<p><a data-flickr-embed=\"true\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/93727562@N00\/2420161935\/in\/photolist-4FRXPV-51TjqC-2mX4XWp-71QgAT-2ptEvMa-5L2dpw-MU7Rn5-8UtHPS-2pfiFSa-6QzpjT-9sGGAt-2ptG8Dm-aABbtW-2nwJ1h5-gB5CyC-9AqGWi-7x4Lyd-CxkFp-9AtNad-71UbZA-f72HZa-iJvFq-qbQ1Kq-aqfQCW-diWRW-2pQKb4Z-GT1FV-2n4nwpm-71Uft5-71U8fd-jYd9M-73fQsC-a7MSF8-uhLcE-2iNSE1W-Cxnps-85j3Hs-6vH5iE-zGQczW-VkjpPu-diWZz-5mKxWy-dotTr9-xKbfh-beKQ8-akrDEP-2ptEw9h-2pfjQXj-2nP13yc-3YmDDG\" title=\"host\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/2371\/2420161935_6f00c13f9d_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"428\" alt=\"host\"\/><\/a><script async src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<em>A host of daffodils<\/em><\/p>\n<p>A <strong>hostage<\/strong> [\u02c8h\u0252s.t\u026a\u02a4 \/ \u02c8h\u0251s.t\u026a\u02a4] is:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A person given as a pledge or security for the performance of the conditions of a treaty or similar agreement, such as to ensure the status of a vassal.<\/li>\n<li>A person seized in order to compel another party to act (or refrain from acting) in a certain way, because of the threat of harm to the hostage.<br \/>\n  <em>other meanings are available<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It comes from Middle English <em>(h)ostage<\/em> (hostage), from Old French <em>(h)ostage<\/em>, either from Old French <em>oste<\/em> (innkeeper, landlord, host), or from Latin <em>obsid\u0101ticum<\/em> (condition of being held captive), from Latin <em>obses<\/em> (hostage, captive, security, pledge), from <em>ob-<\/em> (in front of) and <em>sede\u014d<\/em> (to sit) [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/hostage#English\">source<\/a>].<\/p>\n<p>A <strong>host<\/strong> [h\u0259\u028ast \/ ho\u028ast] is:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>One which receives or entertains a guest, socially, commercially, or officially.<\/li>\n<li>A person or organization responsible for running an event.<\/li>\n<li>A moderator or master of ceremonies for a performance.<br \/>\n  <em>other meanings are available<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It comes from Middle English <em>hoste<\/em> (host), from Old French <em>oste<\/em> (innkeeper, landlord host), from Latin <em>hospitem<\/em>, from <em>hospes<\/em> (host, guest, visitor, stranger, foreigner, unaware, inexperienced, untrained), from Proto-Italic <em>*hostipotis<\/em> (host), from Proto-Indo-European <em>*g\u02b0\u00f3stipotis<\/em> (lord, master, guest), from <em>*g\u02b0\u00f3stis<\/em> (stranger, host, guest, enemy) and <em>*p\u00f3tis<\/em> (master, ruler, husband) [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/host#Etymology_1\">source<\/a>].<\/p>\n<p><strong>Host<\/strong> can also refer to a multitude of people arrayed as an army (e.g. a Heavenly host (of angels)). This comes from the same PIE root (<em>*g\u02b0\u00f3stis<\/em>) as the other kind of <strong>host<\/strong>, via Middle English <em>oost<\/em> (host, army), Old French <em>ost(e)<\/em> (army), Latin <em>hostis<\/em> (an enemy of the state, a hostile), Proto-Italic <em>*hostis<\/em> (stranger, guest) [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/host#Etymology_2\">source<\/a>].<\/p>\n<p>Another meaning of <strong>host<\/strong> is the consecrated bread of the Eucharist. This comes from Middle English <em>(h)oist<\/em> (a sacrificial victim, the Eucharistic wafer), from Old French <em>hoiste<\/em>, from Latin <em>hostia<\/em> ( sacrifice, offering, victim, sacrificial animal, the consecrated bread), from Proto-Indo-European <em>*\u01f5\u02b0ostiyo-<\/em>, from <em>*\u01f5\u02b0es-<\/em> (hand, to take, to give in exchange) [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/host#Etymology_3\">source<\/a>].<\/p>\n<p>So <strong>hostage<\/strong> and <strong>host<\/strong> might be related, at least in the first two senses. <\/p>\n<p>Other words related to <strong>host<\/strong> include <strong>guest<\/strong> in English, <strong>Gast<\/strong> (guest) in German, <strong>g\u00e4st<\/strong> (guest) in Swedish, and <strong>gjest<\/strong> (guest) in Norwegian [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/guest#English\">source<\/a>].<\/p>\n<p>In Old English, the word <em>\u0121\u012bs(e)l<\/em> [ji\u02d0zl] meant <strong>hostage<\/strong>, and comes from Proto-West Germanic <em>*g\u012bsl<\/em> (hostage), from Proto-Germanic <em>*g\u012bslaz<\/em> (hostage), from Proto-Celtic <em>*geistlos<\/em> (hostage, bail), from Proto-Indo-European <em>*g\u02b0eyd\u02b0-<\/em> (to yearn for). So a hostage is &#8220;one who yearns for (release)&#8221; [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/gisl#Old_English\">source<\/a>].<\/p>\n<p>Words from the same Proto-Celtic root (<em>*geistlos<\/em>), include <strong>giall<\/strong> (hostage) in Irish, <strong>giall<\/strong> (hostage, pledge) in Scottish Gaelic, <strong>gwystl<\/strong> (pledge, pawn, hostage) in Welsh, <strong>gijzelen<\/strong> (to take hostage) in Dutch, and <strong>Geisel<\/strong> (hostage) in German, <strong>gidsel<\/strong> (hostage) in Danish and <strong>g\u00edsl<\/strong> (hostage) in Icelandic [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/Reconstruction:Proto-Celtic\/geistlos\">source<\/a>].<\/p>\n<p>Another word from the same Proto-Celtic root is <strong>kihlata<\/strong> (to betroth) in Finnish, which comes via Proto-Finnic <em>*kihla<\/em> (pledge, bet, wager, engagement gift), and Proto-Germanic <em>*g\u012bslaz<\/em> (hostage) [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/Reconstruction:Proto-Finnic\/kihla\">source<\/a>].<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.japanesepod101.com\/member\/go.php?r=759259&amp;i=b0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/images\/banners\/banner_japanesepod.jpg\" alt=\"The Fastest Way to Learn Japanese Guaranteed with JapanesePod101.com\" width=\"630\" height=\"83\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-5001128073855040\"\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- Blog horizontal --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\n     style=\"display:block\"\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-5001128073855040\"\n     data-ad-slot=\"1685480124\"\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Are the words hostage and host related? Let&#8217;s find out. A host of daffodils A hostage [\u02c8h\u0252s.t\u026a\u02a4 \/ \u02c8h\u0251s.t\u026a\u02a4] is: A person given as a pledge or security for the performance of the conditions of a treaty or similar agreement, such as to ensure the status of a vassal. A person seized in order to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[100,104,107,109,116,124,127,10,302,26,31,33,34,43,256,44,45,46,56,67,77,78],"tags":[164,158,413,412,138,281,414,163],"class_list":["post-24047","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-danish","category-english","category-etymology","category-finnish","category-german","category-icelandic","category-irish","category-language","category-late-latin","category-middle-english","category-norwegian","category-old-english-aenglisc","category-old-french","category-proto-celtic","category-proto-finnic","category-proto-germanic","category-proto-indo-european","category-proto-italic","category-scottish-gaelic","category-swedish","category-welsh","category-words-and-phrases","tag-english","tag-etymology","tag-host","tag-hostage","tag-language","tag-omniglot","tag-pledge","tag-words"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24047","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24047"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24047\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24058,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24047\/revisions\/24058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}