hijacked

the origin of 'hijack' is obscure, emerging in american english slang in the 1920s, initially referring to the robbery of bootleggers or truck drivers. one plausible theory suggests it is a compound of 'high' (as in highway) and 'jack' (a colloquial term for a man, or meaning to rob, as in 'to jack someone'). the term's meaning expanded dramatically in the mid-20th century to specifically denote the seizure of control of an aircraft. the modern usage has further broadened metaphorically to describe the unauthorized takeover of any process or event. the '-ed' suffix is the standard english inflection marking the past tense and past participle form.

Structure: hijack + ed "hijack" is a compound verb of uncertain origin, possibly from "high(way)" + "jack" (slang for a man, or to rob). the suffix "-ed" is from old english "-od/-ad", a past tense and past participle suffix.