Other forms: captors
A captor is somebody who has taken another prisoner. Escape from his captors, held by her captors, the captors demanded.
It is nearly always plural and it names the relationship rather than the person's role otherwise. Hostages sometimes form a bond with their captors, which is what the phrase Stockholm syndrome refers to. Note captive, the other half of the pair; and that the Latin capere means to take.
1nouncaptorSomebody who has taken another prisoner.
“The hostage was released after her captors received the ransom.”
captor is a person who holds another.
Latin captor comes from capere, to take. Capture, captive and receive come from the same taking.
Proto-Indo-European
*kap-
Latin
captor
English, today
captor
Latin captor, from Latin capiō. English usage began around 1688.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA