abduct

English

Etymology

From Latin abductus, perfect passive participle of abduco (“to lead away”), from ab (“away”) + duco (“to lead”).[1]

Pronunciation

  • (US, UK) IPA(key): /æbˈdʌkt/, /əbˈdʌkt/
  • Audio (Canada):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ʌkt

Verb

abduct (third-person singular simple present abducts, present participle abducting, simple past and past participle abducted)

  1. (transitive) To take away by force; to carry away (a human being) wrongfully and usually with violence or deception; to kidnap. [Early 17th century.][3]
    to abduct children
    I was abducted by aliens.
    • 1904, Jules Verne, chapter 16, in The Master of the World‎[1], archived from the original on 23 February 2012:
      That same night he had by force abducted the president and the secretary of the club, and had taken them, much against their will upon a voyage in the wonderful air-ship, the “Albatross,” which he had constructed.
  2. (transitive, anatomy) To draw away, as a limb or other part, from the median axis of the body. [Early 17th century.]

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References

  1. ^ Elliott K. Dobbie, C. William Dunmore, Robert K. Barnhart, et al. (editors), Chambers Dictionary of Etymology (Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2004 [1998], →ISBN), page 2
  2. ^ Philip Babcock Gove (editor), Webster's Third International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged (G. & C. Merriam Co., 1976 [1909], →ISBN), page 3
  3. ^ Thomas, Clayton L., editor (1940), Taber's Encyclopedic Medical Dictionary, 5th edition, Philadelphia, PA: F. A. Davis Company, published 1993, →ISBN, page 1
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