noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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Received-Pronunciation:/ˈpɹɪz.(ə).nə əv ˈwɔː/
General-American:/ˈpɹɪz.(ə).nɚ əv ˈwoɹ/
rhymes with -ɔː(ɹ)
Canada:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
1
noun
Meaning 1
A combatant or soldier who is captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
As a prisoner of war, he was interrogated by his enemy captors.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: POW, PW
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
a person who surrenders to (or is taken by) the enemy in time of war
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: POW
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: prisoner, captive
History
Etymology
Calque of French prisonnier de guerre, prisonier de guerre (obsolete).
Across languages
Translations
97 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Albanian:
rob lufte
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Arabic:
أَسِير الْحَرْب
(ʔasīr al-ḥarb)
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Arabic:
أَسِير
(ʔasīr)
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Armenian:
ռազմագերի
(ṙazmageri)
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Azerbaijani:
hərbi əsir
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Belarusian:
ваеннапало́нны
(vajennapalónny)
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Belarusian:
пало́нны
(palónny)
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Bulgarian:
военнопле́нник
(voennoplénnik)
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Burmese:
စစ်သုံ့ပန်း
(cacsum.pan:)
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Burmese:
သုံ့ပန်း
(sum.pan:)
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Chinese Mandarin:
戰俘 /战俘
(zhànfú)
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Chinese Mandarin:
俘虜 /俘虏
(fúlǔ)
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Czech:
zajatec
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Czech:
válečný zajatec
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Danish:
krigsfange
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Dutch:
krijgsgevangene
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Dutch:
oorlogsgevangene
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Esperanto:
militkaptito
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Estonian:
sõjavang
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Faroese:
krígsfangi
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Finnish:
sotavanki
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
French:
prisonnier de guerre
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
French:
prisonnière de guerre
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Galician:
prisioneiro de guerra
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Galician:
prisioneira de guerra
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Georgian:
სამხედრო ტყვე
(samxedro ṭq̇ve)
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
German:
Kriegsgefangener
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
German:
Kriegsgefangene
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Greek:
αιχμάλωτος πολέμου
(aichmálotos polémou)
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Ancient Greek:
αἰχμάλωτος
(aikhmálōtos)
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Hebrew:
שָׁבוּי
(shavúy)
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Hebrew:
שְׁבוּיָה
(shvuyá)
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Hindi:
युद्ध-बंदी
(yuddh-bandī)
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Hindi:
बंदी
(bandī)
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Hungarian:
hadifogoly
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Icelandic:
stríðsfangi
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Indonesian:
tahanan perang
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Interlingua:
prisionero de guerra
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Italian:
prigioniero di guerra
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Italian:
prigioniera di guerra
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Japanese:
捕虜
(horyo)
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Kazakh:
соғыс тұтқыны
(soğys tūtqyny)
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Kazakh:
әскери тұтқын
(äskeri tūtqyn)
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Khmer:
អ្នកទោសសង្គ្រាម
(nĕək tooh sɑngkriəm)
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Korean:
전쟁 포로
(jeonjaeng poro)
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Korean:
포로
(poro)
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Kyrgyz:
согуш туткуну
(soguş tutkunu)
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Latin:
dēditīcius
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Latvian:
karagūsteknis
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Lithuanian:
karo belaisvis
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Lithuanian:
karo belaisvė
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Malay:
tahanan perang
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Marathi:
युद्धकैदी
(yuddhakaidī)
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Nandi:
cheploñgio
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Navajo:
yisnááh
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Norwegian Bokmål:
krigsfange
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Norwegian Nynorsk:
krigsfange
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Persian:
اسیر
(asir)
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Persian:
اسیر جنگی
(asir-e jangi)
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Persian:
اسیر حربی
(asir-e harbi)
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Polish:
jeniec wojenny
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Portuguese:
prisioneiro de guerra
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Portuguese:
prisioneira de guerra
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Romanian:
prizonier de război
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Russian:
военнопле́нный
(vojennoplénnyj)
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Russian:
пле́нный
(plénnyj)
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Scottish Gaelic:
prìosanach-chogaidh
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Serbo-Croatian:
заробљеник
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Serbo-Croatian:
ратни заробљеник
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Serbo-Croatian:
zarobljenik
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Serbo-Croatian:
ratni zarobljenik
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Slovak:
zajatec
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Slovak:
vojnový zajatec
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Slovene:
ujetnik
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Slovene:
vojni ujetnik
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Spanish:
prisionero de guerra
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Spanish:
prisionera de guerra
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Swahili:
mfungwa wa vita
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Swedish:
krigsfånge
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Tajik:
асир
(asir)
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Tajik:
асири ҳарбӣ
(asir-i harbi)
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Tamil:
போர் கைதி
(pōr kaiti)
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Tatar:
әсир
(äsir)
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Telugu:
యుద్ధ ఖైదీ
(yuddha khaidī)
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Thai:
เชลยศึก
(chá-ləəi-sʉ̀k)
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Turkish:
savaş tutsağı
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Turkish:
savaş esiri
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Ottoman Turkish:
اسیر
(esir)
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Ottoman Turkish:
طالاق
(dalak)
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Ukrainian:
бра́нець
(bránecʹ)
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Ukrainian:
військовополоне́ний
(vijsʹkovopolonényj)
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Ukrainian:
полоне́ний
(polonényj)
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Urdu:
جنگی قیدی
(jangī qaidī)
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Uyghur:
ئەسىر
(esir)
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Uzbek:
harbiy asir
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Vietnamese:
tù binh
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Volapük:
kligafanäböpäb
— combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
