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ομήρος
hostage /ˈo.mi.ros/
nounC1#3123 most common
Also: captive held as security or leverage, (figurative) something held hostage to, dependent on outside control
Example sentences
Ο άντρας είναι όμηρος.
The man is a hostage.
Οι τρομοκράτες πήραν όμηρο έναν αστυνομικό.
The terrorists took a policeman hostage.
Ο όμηρος έμεινε κλεισμένος στο κτίριο για τρεις μέρες.
The hostage stayed locked in the building for three days.
Η αστυνομία διαπραγματεύτηκε με τους απαγωγείς για την απελευθέρωση των ομήρων.
The police negotiated with the kidnappers for the release of the hostages.
Χωρίς την έγκριση του κοινοβουλίου, η κυβέρνηση παρέμεινε όμηρος των αγορών.
Without parliament's approval, the government remained hostage to the markets.
Η οικονομία της χώρας κρατείται όμηρος μιας πολιτικής αδράνειας που διαρκεί εδώ και δεκαετίες.
The country's economy is held hostage by a political inertia that has lasted for decades.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | όμηρος | όμηροι |
| Genitive | ομήρου | ομήρων |
| Accusative | όμηρο | ομήρους |
| Vocative | όμηρε | όμηροι |
Word family
ομηρίαhostage-taking; hostage crisis
κρατώ όμηροto hold someone hostage
ΌμηροςHomer, the poet; same spelling, unrelated meaning
Etymology
The word comes from Ancient Greek ὅμηρος, meaning hostage or pledge, already used in this sense in early Greek diplomacy. Some ancient sources explained it as a compound of ὁμοῦ, meaning together, and a root related to ἀραρίσκω, to join or fit, as though a hostage were someone joined to guarantee an agreement. Modern linguists doubt this explanation and consider the word's true origin uncertain, possibly from a language spoken in Greece before Greek arrived. It is spelled the same as Ὅμηρος, the name of the poet Homer, but the two words are not known to be related.
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