kidnap

Etymology

First recorded in the 1680s as thieves' cant,^[1][2] a compound of kid “child” + nap “to snatch”, probably a variant of nab,^[1][3] perhaps as a back-formation from kidnapper.^[1][3]

It originally meant to steal children to provide servants and labourers for the American colonies.^[1][2]

References

1. [1] [2] [3] [4] Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
2. [1] [2] Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
3. [1] [2] Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press