abduction
/æbˈdʌk.ʃn̩/noun
abduction is spelled A-B-D-U-C-T-I-O-N: 9 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 2.7 times per million words in written English, the 16,455th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, abduction means “A leading away; a carrying away” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of abduction is abductions.
How many letters and syllables are in abduction?
| Letters | 9: A-B-D-U-C-T-I-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.7 times per million words; the 16,455th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is abduction?
Abduction appears 2.7 times per million words in written English, the 16,455th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce abduction?
- UK /əbˈdʌk.ʃn̩/
- US /æbˈdʌk.ʃn̩/
- US /æbˈdək.ʃn̩/
Abduction has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-abduction.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with abduction?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as abduction from its last stressed vowel (/ʌkʃn/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of abduction
- abductions plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does abduction mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A leading away; a carrying away.
- 2
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.
- 3
A syllogism or form of argument in which the major premise is evident, but the minor is only probable.
- 4
The wrongful, and usually forcible, carrying off of a human being.
the abduction of a child
- 5
An alien abduction.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Abduction in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | enlèvement , abduction , rapt |
| German | Entführung , Abduktion |
| Spanish | rapto, secuestro , abducción |
| Portuguese | abdução , sequestro |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does abduction come from?
From Latin abductiō(n) (“a robbing; an abduction”), from abdūcō (“to take or lead away”), from ab (“away”) + dūcō (“to lead”). By surface analysis, abduct + -ion or abduce + -tion.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).