Etymologically
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seduction

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /sɪˈdʌk.ʃn̩/[1]
  • US: /sɪˈdʌk.ʃn̩/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French séduction,[2][3][4][5] and partly directly borrowed from Latin sēductiō (“a leading aside”),[6][7][8] formed from sēductus, the past participle of sēdūcō (“to lead aside, lead astray”),[9][4][8] from sē- (“apart, aside”) and dūcō (“to lead”), from Proto-Indo-European *dewk- (“to lead”).[9][3] In post-classical Latin the noun also meant deception and leading astray, from Tertullian and the Vulgate on.[2] The French word meant causing someone to sin from the early 13th century, and in Old French about 1175 also treason; the sexual sense appears in French in the late 14th century.[2] An earlier Middle English seducioun, from Old French seduccïon, is recorded in the Wycliffite Bible as a variant of sedicioun, probably confused with sedition, as also happened in Old French.[10][3][6] It is related to seduce.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Middle English the word first meant sedition or strife: the early Wycliffite Bible (about 1384) has seducioun where other copies have sedicioun.[10][3][6] The OED's first record of the modern word, the act of leading someone astray, is from before 1460, in Osbern Bokenham's Lives of Saints,[2] while Merriam-Webster dates it to 1526[5] and Etymonline to the 1520s, "act of seducing (someone) to error".[3]

Semantic evolution

The sedition sense lasted only until the late 15th century.[6] The word at first referred to conduct and belief: leading someone into error or sin, or away from a duty or allegiance.[3][2] By about 1531 it also meant the state of having been led astray,[2] while from 1544 it meant a thing that leads astray, a temptation.[2] Johnson (1755) defined it simply as the act of seducing or drawing aside.[11] The sexual sense, enticing someone into sexual activity, is recorded from 1751 in the OED[2] and by 1769 in Etymonline, at first always with women as its objects.[3] From 1771 the word also meant allure, an attractive quality.[2] The noun seducement is recorded from the 1580s.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 1384 – Middle English seducioun, sedition, strife (until the late 15th century).[10][6]
  • before 1460 – the act of leading someone astray or away from a duty.[2] Merriam-Webster dates this sense to 1526.[5]
  • c. 1531 – the state of having been led astray.[2]
  • 1544 – something that leads someone astray; a temptation.[2]
  • 1751 – the act of enticing someone into sexual activity.[2] Etymonline dates this sense to 1769.[3]
  • 1771 – seductiveness, allure.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The act of seducing someone, especially of persuading someone into sexual activity, or the fact of being seduced.[12][5][2]
  2. The act of leading someone into error or wrongdoing, or away from a duty.[5][2]
  3. Something that tempts or attracts; a means of seducing: the seductions of city life.[12][2][6]
  4. An attractive or alluring quality; allure.[2][6]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  9. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  10. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  12. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins