Etymologically
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abduco

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [abˈduː.koː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [abˈduː.ko][1]

Forms

abdūcō (present infinitive abdūcere, perfect active abdūxī, supine abductum); third conjugation, irregular short imperative[1]

Etymology

It is from ab- (“away”) and dūcō “to lead”.[2][1][3] Dūcō goes back to Proto-Indo-European *dewk- (“to lead”).[1][3] The epitaph of a Scipio has the old spelling ⟨abdoucit⟩.[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first citations are from Plautus, who also has the short forms abdūxtī and abdūce.[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant to lead away, carry off, remove persons, as Plautus' leading from the altar, and to withdraw troops, as Caesar's cohorts taken with him.[2][6] It also meant to entice away from allegiance or the truth, to seduce, and to captivate.[2] It meant to take property by force or fraud, carry off, abduct, as in Cicero.[2] Figuratively it meant to separate, to withdraw the mind from its surroundings, to distract or divert a person from an occupation, and to lower or reduce.[2]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to lead away or seduce.[7] English abduce was borrowed in the 1530s, and English abduct “to kidnap” is a back-formation of 1834 from abduction.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of leading away.[2][5]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of withdrawing cohorts.[6][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of carrying off property and of distracting the mind.[2][5]
  • 1834 – English abduct is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To lead away, carry off, remove.[2]
  2. To withdraw (troops).[2]
  3. To entice away; to seduce.[2]
  4. To take away by force or fraud, abduct.[2]
  5. To separate; to withdraw (the mind).[2]
  6. To distract, divert.[2]

Word family

  • abductiō
  • abductor
  • abductus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson