English → Latin
“ransom” in Latin
pecūniamoney; wealth; cash, ready money, liquid wealthpretiumworth, price, value, cost; pay, hire, wage; rewardrecipiōto take back, (i.e., regain possession of something); to recapture; to receive, accept, admitredimōto buy back, repurchase, redeem; to atone for; to ransom
The English word ransom itself goes back to Latin emō, through redēmptiō.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
ransom s.
pecuniae, quibus aliquis redimitur (Suet., Caes., 4); pactum pro capite pretium (when one purchases his life with it; Cic., Off., 3, 29, 107): from the context, often simply pretium; pecuniae: to restore, receive without ransom, sine pretio dimittere, recipere.
ransom v.
aliquem pretio or pecunia, redimere (e servitute); aliquem redimere.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for ransom?
- The usual Latin words for “ransom” are pecūnia, pretium, recipiō; also redimō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.