abduction

Etymology

From Latin abductiō (“robbing; abduction”), from abdūcō (“take or lead away”), from ab (“away”) + dūcō (“to lead”). Equivalent to abduct + -ion. * (physiology): From French, from Latin abductus. * Compare French abduction.

noun

1. Leading away; a carrying away.
2. (anatomy) The act of abducing or abducting; a drawing apart; the movement which separates a limb or other part from the axis, or middle line, of the body.
   2013, Jain, MD, MSPH; Wilcox, PT; Katz, MD, MS; Higgins, MD, "Clinical Examination of the Rotator Cuff", PM&R Journal, retrieved from PubMed Central on 21 Jan 2018. Abduction is performed by asking the patient to raise the arm at the side as high as they can with the examiner stabilizing the scapula by holding it down.
3. (logic) A syllogism or form of argument in which the major premise is evident, but the minor is only probable.
   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. 2005, Ronnie Cann, Ruth Kempson, Lutz Marten, The Dynamics of Language, an Introduction, page 256
4. (law) The wrongful, and usually forcible, carrying off of a human being.
   the abduction of a child
5. (ufology) alien abduction
   But fear of abduction never stopped a good ufologist. 2010, Monte Dwyer, Red in the Centre: Through a Crooked Lens, Monyer Pty Ltd, page 122