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Origin and history of kidnapper

kidnapper(n.)

1670s; see kidnap (though this word is attested a few years earlier).

also from 1670s

Entries linking to kidnapper

kidnap(v.)

1680s, thieves' cant, a compound of kid (n.) "child" and nap (v.) "snatch away," which probably is a variant of nab (v.). Perhaps a back-formation from kidnapper, which is recorded earlier. Originally "to steal children to provide servants and laborers in the American colonies." Related: Kidnapped; kidnapping.

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