人質

See also: 人质

Chinese

man; person; people
 
hostage; substance; nature
hostage; substance; nature; quality
trad. (人質)
simp. (人质)

Pronunciation


Noun

人質

  1. hostage
    營救人質营救人质   yíngjiù rénzhì   to rescue hostages

Japanese

Kanji in this term
ひと
Grade: 1
しち > じち
Grade: 5
yutōyomi

Etymology

Compound of (hito, person) + (shichi, pawn, hock).[1] The shichi changes to jichi as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

The original sense was “indentureship”, from the sense of a person being as if in pawn until a debt is paid. The “hostage” sense then arose by extension, from the person being in pawn until a ransom is paid or some other condition is met.

Pronunciation

Noun

(ひと)(じち) (hitojichi) 

  1. a hostage
    (ひと)(じち)()(けん)
    hitojichi jiken
    a hostage situation
  2. (archaic, original sense) indentureship, the state of being in servitude to another as collateral on or payment of a debt

References

  1. 1988, 国語大辞典(新装版) (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
  2. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
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