Where does “kidnaper” come from?

kidnaper (Serbo-Croatian) comes from Serbo-Croatian kidnapírati, from German kidnappieren, from English kidnap, from English NAP, from French napper, from French -er, from English -er, from Middle English -er — he, she.

kidnaper (Serbo-Croatian): kidnapper

Definitions

  1. kidnapper

Ancestry of “kidnaper”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Serbo-Croatiankidnapíratito kidnap
2Germankidnappieren
3EnglishkidnapTo seize and detain a person unlawfully;...
4EnglishNAPAcronym of non-aggression principle; Acronym of...
5Frenchnapperto cover
6French-erForms infinitives of first-conjugation verbs
7English-erA person or thing that does an action indicated...
8Middle English-eragentive suffix; agent noun suffix
9Old French-erAlternative form of -ier, verbal suffix;...
10Latin-ārefirst conjugation
11Proto-Italic-āōForms primarily denominative verbs
12Proto-Indo-European-eh₂yétiCreates iterative/ frequentative/ intensive...
13Proto-Indo-European-yétiCreates intransitive, often deponent,...
14Proto-Indo-Europeanyé-
15Chichewaiyehe, she
Every word from Chichewa iyeEvery word from English -erEvery word from French -er