Meanings
nounprisoner of war (plural prisoners of war)
plural prisoners of war
- A combatant or soldier who is captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict.First known use early 17th c.
As a prisoner of war, he was interrogated by his enemy captors.
1 more example
In November 1799 he entered on board the 38-gun frigate Hussar, under the immediate patronage of the first lieutenant, and four years later was serving as midshipman on board the same ship when she was lost on the Saintes, near Brest, on 8 Feb. 1804. Whilst prisoner of war, Mr. Ashworth made several remarkable attempts to recover his freedom; and at last, having escaped from Bitche in December 1808, he succeeded in passing through Germany to Trieste, where he got on board the English frigate L'Unité.
1885-1900, John Knox Laughton, Dictionary of National Biography, Ashworth, Henry (1785-1811)
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA combatant or soldier who is captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna person who surrenders to (or is taken by) the enemy in time of war
Similar
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Frenchprisonnier de guerre
- Englishprisoner of war
Calque of French prisonnier de guerre, prisonier de guerre (obsolete).
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek αἰχμάλωτος
- αἰχμάλωτος (aikhmálōtos)combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Arabic أَسِير الْحَرْب, أَسِير
- أَسِير الْحَرْب (ʔasīr al-ḥarb)combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
- أَسِير (ʔasīr)combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Bulgarian военнопленник
- военнопленник (voennoplennik)combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Chinese Mandarin 戰俘 /战俘, 俘虜 /俘虏
- 戰俘 /战俘 (zhànfú)combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
- 俘虜 /俘虏 (fúlǔ)combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Czech zajatec, válečný zajatec
- zajateccombatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
- válečný zajateccombatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Danish krigsfange
- krigsfangecombatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Dutch krijgsgevangene, oorlogsgevangene
- krijgsgevangenecombatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
- oorlogsgevangenecombatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Esperanto militkaptito
- militkaptitocombatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Estonian sõjavang
- sõjavangcombatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Finnish sotavanki
- sotavankicombatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
French prisonnier de guerre, prisonnière de guerre
- prisonnier de guerrecombatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
- prisonnière de guerrecombatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
German Kriegsgefangener, Kriegsgefangene
- Kriegsgefangenercombatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
- Kriegsgefangenecombatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Greek αιχμάλωτος πολέμου
- αιχμάλωτος πολέμου (aichmálotos polémou)combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Hebrew שָׁבוּי, שְׁבוּיָה
- שָׁבוּי (shavúy)combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
- שְׁבוּיָה (shvuyá)combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Hindi युद्ध-बंदी, बंदी
- युद्ध-बंदी (yuddh-bandī)combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
- बंदी (bandī)combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Hungarian hadifogoly
- hadifogolycombatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Icelandic stríðsfangi
- stríðsfangicombatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Indonesian tahanan perang
- tahanan perangcombatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Italian prigioniero di guerra, prigioniera di guerra
- prigioniero di guerracombatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
- prigioniera di guerracombatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Japanese 捕虜
- 捕虜 (horyo)combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Korean 전쟁 포로, 포로
- 전쟁 포로 (jeonjaeng poro)combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
- 포로 (poro)combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Latin dēditīcius
- dēditīciuscombatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Latvian karagūsteknis
- karagūstekniscombatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Lithuanian karo belaisvis, karo belaisvė
- karo belaisviscombatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
- karo belaisvėcombatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Malay tahanan perang
- tahanan perangcombatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Norwegian Bokmål krigsfange
- krigsfangecombatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Persian اسیر, اسیر جنگی
- اسیر (asir)combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
- اسیر جنگی (asir-e jangi)combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
- اسیر حربی (asir-e harbi)combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Polish jeniec wojenny
- jeniec wojennycombatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Portuguese prisioneiro de guerra, prisioneira de guerra
- prisioneiro de guerracombatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
- prisioneira de guerracombatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Romanian prizonier de război
- prizonier de războicombatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Russian военнопле́нный, пле́нный
- военнопле́нный (vojennoplénnyj)combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
- пле́нный (plénnyj)combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Scottish Gaelic prìosanach-chogaidh
- prìosanach-chogaidhcombatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Slovak zajatec, vojnový zajatec
- zajateccombatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
- vojnový zajateccombatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Spanish prisionero de guerra, prisionera de guerra
- prisionero de guerracombatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
- prisionera de guerracombatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Swahili mfungwa wa vita
- mfungwa wa vitacombatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Swedish krigsfånge
- krigsfångecombatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Tamil போர் கைதி
- போர் கைதி (pōr kaiti)combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Thai เชลยศึก
- เชลยศึก (chá-ləəi-sʉ̀k)combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Turkish savaş tutsağı, savaş esiri
- savaş tutsağıcombatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
- savaş esiricombatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Ukrainian бра́нець, військовополоне́ний
- бра́нець (bránecʹ)combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
- військовополоне́ний (vijsʹkovopolonényj)combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
- полоне́ний (polonényj)combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Urdu جنگی قیدی
- جنگی قیدی (jangī qaidī)combatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Vietnamese tù binh
- tù binhcombatant or soldier captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with prisoner of war
fororyourmorestorebeforefourwarsuretourmaturethereforeensureflooroutdoorcorepoorhardcorenorexplorepureMoorehorrorpour
All rhymes →Cite this entry
APA
prisoner of war. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prisoner%20of%20war
MLA
“prisoner of war.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prisoner%20of%20war. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “prisoner of war,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prisoner%20of%20war.
Source: prisoner of war on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.