What does captive mean?
Definitions for captive
ˈkæp tɪvcap·tive
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word captive.
Princeton's WordNet
prisoner, captivenoun
a person who is confined; especially a prisoner of war
captivenoun
an animal that is confined
captiveadjective
a person held in the grip of a strong emotion or passion
captive, confined, imprisoned, jailedadjective
being in captivity
captive, absorbed, engrossed, enwrapped, intent, wrappedadjective
giving or marked by complete attention to
"that engrossed look or rapt delight"; "then wrapped in dreams"; "so intent on this fantastic...narrative that she hardly stirred"- Walter de la Mare; "rapt with wonder"; "wrapped in thought"
Wiktionary
captivenoun
a person who has been captured or is otherwise confined
captivenoun
a person held prisoner
captiveadjective
held prisoner; not free; confined
Etymology: Ultimately from captivus.
Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
Captiveadjective
Made prisoner in war; kept in bondage or confinement.
Etymology: captivus, Lat.
But fate forbids; the Stygian floods oppose,
And with nine circling streams the captive souls inclose. John Dryden, Æn. vi.CAPTIVEnoun
Etymology: captif, Fr. captivus, Lat.
You have the captives,
Who were the opposites of this day’s strife. William Shakespeare, K. Lear.This is no other than that forced respect a captive pays to his conquerour, a slave to his lord. John Rogers.
Free from shame
Thy captives: I ensure the penal claim. Alexander Pope, Odyssey.If thou say Antony lives, ’tis well,
Or friends with Cæsar, or not captive to him. William Shakespeare.My mother, who the royal sceptre sway’d,
Was captive to the cruel victor made. Dryden.My woman’s heart
Grossly grew captive to his honey words. William Shakespeare, Richard III.To Captiveverb
To take prisoner; to bring into a condition of servitude.
Etymology: from the noun.
But being all defeated save a few,
Rather than fly, or be captiv’d, herself she slew. Fairy Q. b. ii.Oft leavest them to hostile sword
Of heathen and profane, their carcasses
To dogs and fowls a prey, or else captiv’d. John Milton, Agonist.What further fear of danger can there be?
Beauty, which captives all things, sets me free. Dryden.Still lay the god: the nymph surpriz’d,
Yet, mistress of herself, devis’d,
How she the vagrant might inthral,
And captive him, who captives all. Matthew Prior.
ChatGPT
captive
A captive is a person, animal, or object that is confined or held under control by another; this could be as a prisoner, a pet in a cage, or a thing unable to move or be moved freely. The term can also be used to describe someone who is mesmerized or fully engrossed, as in "captive audience".
Webster Dictionary
Captivenoun
a prisoner taken by force or stratagem, esp., by an enemy, in war; one kept in bondage or in the power of another
Captivenoun
one charmed or subdued by beaty, excellence, or affection; one who is captivated
Captiveadjective
made prisoner, especially in war; held in bondage or in confinement
Captiveadjective
subdued by love; charmed; captivated
Captiveadjective
of or pertaining to bondage or confinement; serving to confine; as, captive chains; captive hours
Captiveverb
to take prisoner; to capture
Etymology: [L. captivus, fr. capere to take: cf. F. captif. See Caitiff.]
Wikidata
Captive
Captive is a science fiction role-playing video game released by Mindscape in 1990. A Dungeon Master "clone", it featured pseudo 3D realtime graphics from a first-person perspective. The player characters are androids operated remotely by a prisoner trying to free himself. The player assumes the role of the prisoner, and the game involves visiting and destroying a series of bases on different planets. It was released on Amiga, Atari ST and PC platforms.
Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
Captive
kap′tiv, n. one taken: a prisoner of war: one kept in bondage.—adj. taken, or kept prisoner in war; charmed or subdued by anything.—ns. Cap′tivaunce (Spens.), captivity; Captiv′ity; Cap′tor, one who takes a prisoner or a prize; Cap′ture, the act of taking: the thing taken: an arrest.—v.t. to take as a prize: to take by force. [L. captivus—capĕre, captum.]
Dictionary of Nautical Terms
captive
A prisoner of war.
Military Dictionary and Gazetteer
captive
A prisoner taken by force or stratagem in war, by an enemy; made prisoner, especially in war; kept in bondage or confinement.
Matched Categories
Usage in printed sourcesFrom:
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Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of captive in Chaldean Numerology is: 1
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of captive in Pythagorean Numerology is: 4
Examples of captive in a Sentence
The fact that they've gone to such trouble to ensure that it's a captive audience raises some questions about how generalizable the results are.
We cannot continue to run this country for the top 10%. We can't keep pushing through trade deals that benefit multi-national companies at the expense of workers, government cannot continue to be the captive of the rich and the powerful. Working people cannot be forced to give up more and more as they get squeezed harder and harder.
Germany is a captive of Russia, it's very inappropriate.
It's a shame because the flamingos can grow very old, they live 30 to 40 years normally. Flamingos in captive breeding can live 70 or 80 years.
ISIS claims the Quran justifies taking non-Muslim women and girls captive, and permits their rape; Zeinat says al-Baghdadi threatened her and others that they too would be forced to submit to sex with him.
Popularity rank by frequency of use
References
Translations for captive
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- пленен, пленник, затворникBulgarian
- zajatý, zajatecCzech
- gefangenGerman
- malliberulo, kaptitoEsperanto
- preso, prisionero, cautivoSpanish
- اسيرPersian
- vanki, vangittuFinnish
- captive, captifFrench
- գերիArmenian
- prigioniero, catturato, intrappolatoItalian
- 俘虜, とりこJapanese
- 捕虜, 포로Korean
- whakarauMāori
- gevangen, gevangeneDutch
- yisnááhNavajo, Navaho
- więzień, jeniecPolish
- prisioneiro, cativoPortuguese
- пленник, пленный, пленница, узница, узникRussian
- sužanj, zarobljenica, zarobljenik, сужањ, заробљеница, заробљеникSerbo-Croatian
- fångeSwedish
- tutuklu, esir, mahkum, hükümlüTurkish
- полонений, бранецьUkrainian
Get even more translations for captive »
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