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abduction

ab·duc·tion

UK/əbˈdʌk.ʃn̩/ US/æbˈdʌk.ʃn̩/ fairly common

noun

1.

the criminal act of capturing and carrying away by force a family member; if a man''s wife is abducted it is a crime against the family relationship and against the wife

2.

(physiology) moving of a body part away from the central axis of the body

Origin

From Latin abductiō(n) (“a robbing; an abduction”), from abdūcō (“to take or lead away”), from ab (“away”) + dūcō (“to lead”). By surface analysis, abduct + -ion or abduce + -tion. * (physiology): From French, from Latin abductus. * Compare French abduction.

Phrases

  • alien abduction
  • military abduction

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.