- kidnap
- 1673, compound of kid (n.) "child" and nap "snatch away," variant of nab; originally "stealing children to provide servants and laborers in the American colonies."
- abduct
- "to kidnap," 1834, in this sense probably a back-formation from abduction (q.v.); the earlier form was abduce and the meaning was "to draw away" by persuasion (1530s), from L. abducere "to lead away." Related: Abducted; abducting.
- nab (v.)
- "to catch (someone), 1686, probably a variant of dial. nap "to seize, catch, lay hold of" (1673, now surviving only in kidnap), which is possibly from Scand. (cf. Norw. nappe "to catch, snatch;" Swed. nappa; Dan. nappe "to pinch, pull"), reinforced by M.E. napand "grasping, greedy."