kidnap

The word 'kidnap' is a compound formed from two slang terms in 17th-century British criminal cant. 'Kid', originally meaning a young goat, had evolved to colloquially refer to a child. 'Nap' (or 'nab') was a verb meaning to seize or snatch. The term was coined specifically to describe the then-prevalent crime of abducting children, often to ship them to the American colonies as indentured servants or laborers. Its formation follows a transparently literal logic—to 'kid-nap' is literally to 'seize a child'—which later broadened in application to the abduction of adults for ransom.

Structure: kid (child) + nap (to seize) - kid: From Middle English 'kid' (young goat, child), of Scandinavian origin. Functions as a noun root meaning 'child'. - nap: From 'nab', a variant of 'nap' meaning to seize or catch, likely of Scandinavian origin. Functions as a verb root meaning 'to seize'.