U

abduction

noun

act of abducting.
the state of being abducted.
Law. the illegal carrying or enticing away of a person, especially by interfering with a relationship, as the taking of a child from its parent.

noun Logic.

a syllogism whose major premise is certain but whose minor premise is probable.

noun

the act of taking someone away by force or cunning; kidnapping
the action of certain muscles in pulling a leg, arm, etc away from the median axis of the body

1620s, “a leading away,” from Latin abductionem (nominative abductio), noun of action from past participle stem of abducere “to lead away, take away” (often by force), from ab- “away” (see ab-) + ducere “to lead” (see duke (n.)). The illegal activity so called from 1768; before that the word also was a term in surgery and logic. In the Mercian hymns, Latin abductione is glossed by Old English wiðlaednisse.