abductio

Forms

abductiō f (genitive abductiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin abdūcō (“to lead away”) + -tiō, an action noun.^[1][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds no instance before the 4th century.^[3] Ambrose uses it in his commentary on the Psalms of people living in captivity (in abductione).^[3][2][4]

Semantic evolution

In Late Latin it meant a forcible leading away: of the ten tribes of Israel carried into exile (Sulpicius Severus), of country people taken away (the Theodosian Code), and of a woman carried off, as in Dares Phrygius on the abduction of Hesione.^[3][2][5] The Vulgate uses it in Sirach for withdrawal or solitude,^[5][6][4] and Ambrosiaster for corruption and seduction.^[3] In Caelius Aurelianus it is a medical term, which Conte renders as a wrench or dislocation.^[4]

Medieval Latin kept the senses of forcible removal and seduction.^[7] In British sources it also meant the driving off of cattle and the export of goods,^[8] and a German annal uses it for hay washed away.^[9]

English took abduction from it in the 1620s, first meaning “a leading away”.^[10]

Timeline

• c. 340–397 AD – Ambrose writes of people in abductione, in captivity.^[3][11]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it for withdrawal in Sirach.^[5][11]
• c. 363–c. 420 AD – Sulpicius Severus writes of the carrying off of the ten tribes.^[3][11]
• 438 AD – The Theodosian Code speaks of country people taken away.^[3][11]
• 538/539–594 AD – Gregory of Tours writes of the abduction of a priest.^[3][11]
• 1229 – An English court record uses it for driving oxen out of the county.^[8]
• 1620s – English borrows it as abduction.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A forcible carrying off; captivity, exile.^[5][3][6]
2. The abduction of a person, especially of a woman.^[5][2][8]
3. (Late Latin) Retirement, withdrawal, solitude.^[5][6][4]
4. (Late Latin) Corruption, seduction.^[3][7]
5. (Late Latin, medicine) A wrench or dislocation.^[4]
6. (Medieval Latin) The driving off of animals; the export of goods.^[8]

Related words

• abdūcō
• abductor
• abductus
• English abduction

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d e Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ a b c d Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
9. ^ Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de