captor

[ kap-ter ]

noun

1. a person who has captured a person or thing.

captor

/ ˈkæptə /

noun

1. a person or animal that holds another captive

Word History and Origins

Origin of captor¹

1640–50; < Late Latin, equivalent to cap ( ere ) to take + -tor -tor

Word History and Origins

Origin of captor¹

C17: from Latin, from capere to take

Example Sentences

"A captor attempts to feed his prisoner to a monster, and there are other scenes of threat involving bombs, hostages and a hero being frozen alive."

From BBC

By the time Sister Barnes accuses her captor of touting a magic trick as a miracle and Sister Paxton discovers the caged women, the film reveals its own deception.

From Los Angeles Times

Half a year after Oleksii’s rescue, his Russian captor was being lauded at home.

From BBC

The Israeli military said the now 21-year-old's captor in Gaza had been killed during the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian armed group Hamas, probably as a result of an air strike.

From BBC

Less so her captor, Dementus, played by Chris Hemsworth, who, though he tries hard to build an arm-swinging, cape-wearing, motormouthed swagger, doesn’t have the lines to give his gang leader the kind of vanity we could relish in a villain.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• detainer
• holder
• impounder
• imprisoner
• incarcerator
• jailer