The act of stealing or driving away cattle and livestock; cattle rustling or theft of herds.
From Latin 'abactus' (driven away), derived from 'abigere' (to drive away). The prefix 'ab-' means away, and 'agere' means to drive. This legal term was common in medieval and early modern English law to describe a specific crime.
In medieval and Renaissance England, 'abaction' was serious enough to appear in official court documents and legal codes—it was cattle rustling on a grand scale, and if caught, you faced severe punishment because taking someone's herds meant threatening their entire livelihood.
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