1620s, "a leading away," from Latin abductionem (nominative abductio) "a forcible carrying off, ravishing, robbing," noun of action from past-participle stem of abducere "to lead away, take away, arrest" (often by force), from ab "off, away from" (see ab-) + ducere "to lead" (from PIE root *deuk- "to lead"). As "criminal act of forcibly taking (someone)" by 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.