abduct

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 拐 has 8 strokes and the on-reading かい. 誘拐 (ゆうかい) and 誘拐犯 (ゆうかいはん) distinguish an incident from its perpetrator.
• Basic usage: 誘拐 means kidnapping or abduction; 誘拐犯 means the person who carries it out.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• A kidnapping and a call falsely claiming one
  • 子どもの誘拐事件 is the kidnapping of a child with which the mystery novel begins. 誘拐を装った電話 describes a call pretending that a kidnapping occurred, without establishing an actual abduction.
  • 誘拐犯の居場所 means the kidnapper's whereabouts. 劇中の誘拐犯は最後に人質を解放した means that the abductor in the play released the hostage at the end.