abduction

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

From Latin abductiō (“robbing; abduction”), from abdūcō (“take or lead away”). Compare French abduction.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA: /əbˈdʌk.ʃən/, SAMPA: /@b"dVk.S@n/
• (US) IPA: /æbˈdʌk.ʃən/, SAMPA: /{b"dVk.S@n/

Noun

abduction (plural abductions)

1. The act of abducing or abducting; a drawing apart; a carrying away.
2. (physiology) The movement which separates a limb or other part from the axis, or middle line, of the body.
3. (law) The wrongful, and usually the forcible, carrying off of a human being.

   the abduction of a child

4. (logic) A syllogism or form of argument in which the major is evident, but the minor is only probable.
   • 2005, Ronnie Cann, Ruth Kempson, Lutz Marten, The Dynamics of Language, an Introduction, page 256:

     The significance of such a step is that it is not morphologically triggered: it is a step of abduction, and what is required here is a meta-level process of reasoning.

Usage notes

• In Gregg shorthand (version: Centennial, Series 90, DJS, Simplified, Anniversary, Pre-Anniversary) the word is represented: a - b - d - u - k - sh

Synonyms

• (legal, carrying off of human being): kidnapping
• (logic): retroduction
• (determining most plausible explanation): retroduction

Derived terms

• alien abduction

Related terms

• abduce

Translations

act of abducing or abducting

Bulgarian: отвличане, похищение (bg) Cherokee: ᎠᏓᏘᎿᏫᏗᏍᎬ (chr) (agutihnawidisgv) Esperanto: forrabo (eo) Georgian: მოტაცება (ka) German: Entführung (de) f.

Italian: rapimento (it) m. Japanese: 誘拐 (ja) (yūkai) Norwegian: bortføring (no) c. Portuguese: (Brazil) abdução (pt) m., (Portugal) abducção (pt) m. Spanish: rapto (es) m., secuestro (es) m.

physiology: movement separating limb from axis

Bulgarian: абдукция (bg) (abdúktsiya) f. French: abduction (fr) f. Georgian: აბდუქცია (ka) German: Abduktion (de) f.

Italian: abduzione (it) f. Norwegian: abduksjon (no) m. Portuguese: (Brazil) abdução (pt) m., (Portugal) abducção (pt) m. Spanish: abducción (es) f.

law: carrying off of a human being

Bulgarian: отвличане (bg) Dutch: ontvoering (nl) f., kidnapping (nl) f. French: rapt (fr) m., enlèvement (fr) m. German: Entführung (de) f. Italian: rapimento (it) m.

Japanese: 誘拐 (ja) Norwegian: bortføring (no) c., kidnapping (no) c. Portuguese: rapto (pt), abdução (pt) f., (Brazil) seqüestro (pt) m., (Portugal) abducção (pt) m. Slovene: ugrabitev (sl) f. Spanish: rapto (es) m.

logic: syllogism

Dutch: abductie (nl) f. German: Abduktion (de) f.

Italian: abduzione (it) f. Spanish: abducción (es) f.

computing: process of inference

Dutch: abductie (nl) f. French: abduction (fr) f.

Portuguese: (Brazil) abdução (pt) m., (Portugal) abducção (pt) m.

education: process used in getting students to see disciplinary regularity

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

French: abduction (fr) f. Interlingua: abduction (ia) Malay: penculikan Tamil: கடத்தல்

References

• abduction in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913

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French

Pronunciation

• IPA: /abdyksjɔ̃/

Etymology

From Latin abductiō (“robbing; abduction”), from abdūcō (“take or lead away”).

Noun

abduction f. (plural abductions)

1. (physiology) Abductive movement; abduction.
2. (logic, computing) Abductive reasoning; abduction.

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Interlingua

Etymology

From Latin abductiō (“robbing; abduction”), from abdūcō (“take or lead away”).

Noun

abduction (plural abductiones)

1. abduction