Sc. Law. [Fr. enlèvement, f. enlever to carry off, f. en- :—L. inde away + lever to lift.] A carrying off (of a woman or child); an abduction.
Sometimes employed by mod. Eng. writers merely as Fr. without reference to its earlier adoption.
1769. Ld. President, in Scots Mag., Sept., 687/1. As to the enlevement of Mignon’s child … such enlevement happened in July 1748.
1818. Scott, Hrt. Midl., i. The development, enlèvement, the desperate wound [etc.] … become a mere matter of course.
1852. Thackeray, B. Lyndon, xvi. All the town being up about the enlèvement.
