abduction

¹ American  

[ab-duhk-shuhn] / æbˈdʌk ʃən /

noun

1. act of abducting.

2. the state of being abducted.

3. Law. the illegal carrying or enticing away of a person, especially by interfering with a relationship, such as the taking of a child from their parent.

---

abduction ² American  

[ab-duhk-shuhn] / æbˈdʌk ʃən /

noun

Logic.

1. a syllogism whose major premise is certain but whose minor premise is probable.

---

abduction British  

/ æbˈdʌkʃən /

noun

1. the act of taking someone away by force or cunning; kidnapping

2. the action of certain muscles in pulling a leg, arm, etc away from the median axis of the body

---

Etymology

Origin of abduction¹

First recorded in 1620–30; abduct + -ion

Origin of abduction²

First recorded in 1690–1700, abduction is from the New Latin word abductiōn- (stem of abductiō; translation of Greek apagōgḗ ). See abduct, -ion

---

Explanation

If you're the victim of an abduction, you've been carried away against your will — kidnapped. The word comes from Latin ab "away" + ducere "lead." Abduction is also when you move your arm or leg away from your midline. "The Abduction from the Seraglio" is the English title of a famous Mozart opera, in which a nobleman tries to rescue his betrothed, who has been captured — abducted — by pirates and sold into a pasha's harem, or seraglio. At the end of the opera, the pasha is overwhelmed with mercy and frees everyone and sends them home. So there really isn’t an abduction from the seraglio; the pasha lets everybody go.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

abduction

This is because of his willingness to provide information about the abduction of American journalist Austin Tice in Syria in 2012, as well as additional intelligence, we have been told.

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

She joined the San Joaquin County district attorney’s office in 2007, eventually working in the domestic violence and child abduction units.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

Thor for thunderstorms, shrieking Sirens to explain shipwrecks, the abduction of Persephone the reason behind the bleakness of winter.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

The army said its troops mobilised alongside the police immediately after hearing about the abduction, in the Tsafe area of Zamfara on Saturday afternoon.

From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026

“Sheriff, I believe that early on the morning after Emmett Till’s abduction, you arrested Milam and Bryant on suspicion of kidnapping.”

From "Mississippi Trial, 1955" by Chris Crowe

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• kidnapping
• rape
• seizure
• theft

---