ransom

From the Middle English ransoun, from the Old French raençon, from stem of Latin redemptio; doublet of redemption. Entered English ca. the 13th century.

• IPA^(key): /ˈɹænsəm/

ransom (usually uncountable, plural ransoms)

1. Money paid for the freeing of a hostage.

   They were held for two million dollars ransom.

   They were held to ransom.

   • 1674, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book XII:

     Thy ransom paid, which man from death redeems.

   • Sir J. Davies

     His captivity in Austria, and the heavy ransom he paid for his liberty.

   • 2010, Caroline Alexander, The War That Killed Achilles: The True Story of Homer's Iliad:

     As rich as was the ransom Priam paid for Hektor, Hermes says, his remaining sons at Troy “'would give three times as much ransom / for you, who are alive, were Atreus' son Agamemnon / to recognize you.'”

2. The release of a captive, or of captured property, by payment of a consideration.

   prisoners hopeless of ransom

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Dryden to this entry?)

3. (historical, law, Britain) A sum paid for the pardon of some great offence and the discharge of the offender; also, a fine paid in lieu of corporal punishment.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Blackstone to this entry?)

• For is much more common in the US, to in the UK.

• king's ransom
• ransomware

ransom (third-person singular simple present ransoms, present participle ransoming, simple past and past participle ransomed)

1. (14th century) To deliver, especially in context of sin or relevant penalties.
2. To pay a price to set someone free from captivity or punishment.

   to ransom prisoners from an enemy

3. To exact a ransom for, or a payment on.

   Such lands as he had rule of he ransomed them so grievously, and would tax the men two or three times in a year. — Berners.

• bail

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary: Tenth Edition 1997

• Armons, Manors, Marons, Romans, Rosman, manors, morans, mornas, normas, ramson, sarmon