prisoner

Compared meaning: a person or animal held and not free (noun).

比较义项：被囚禁、被俘获的人（或动物）（名词）。

• prisoner 本词

  Refers to a person confined in prison as punishment for a crime, or captured and held during war; implies a formal, official detention system. Used almost only for humans, never animals.

  指因犯罪而被关押在监狱服刑，或在战争中被俘的人；强调正式、官方的拘押体制，几乎只用于指人，不用于动物。

  The prisoner was denied parole for the third time in ten years.

  这名囚犯十年来第三次被拒绝假释。

• captive

  A broader word for someone or something forcibly held and denied freedom, whether by kidnappers, wartime captors, or keepers of animals; can describe animals as well as people, often in phrases like 'held captive'.

  适用范围更广，指被绑架者、战争中的俘获者或被圈养的动物等一切被强行剥夺自由的人或动物；既可指人，也可指动物，常见于“held captive”这类说法中。

  Zoo captives such as the polar bear rarely have room to roam freely.

  北极熊之类被圈养在动物园里的动物，很少有自由活动的空间。

Prisoner and captive both mean someone held and not free. Prisoner is used almost only for people, usually someone jailed or held as a war prisoner. Captive is broader: it can describe people or animals forcibly held or kept, as in 'held captive'.

这两个词都指被剥夺自由、被关起来的人，但语气和适用范围不同：prisoner 强调依法监禁或战俘身份，几乎只用于人；captive 范围更广，可以指人，也可以指被圈养的动物，常用于“被掳”“被圈养”这类语境。