spiritern.
/ˈspɪrᵻtə/, U.S. /ˈspɪrədər/ Chiefly historical (rare before 20th cent.)
An abductor; spec. a person providing forced labour to the West Indies or North America by means of trickery or abduction; = spirit n. 11a. Cf. spirit v. 5.In quot. 1665 in figurative context.In the 17th cent., spirit appears to have been the term most often used to refer to such people.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > thief > kidnapper or abductor > [noun]
man-thiefeOE
men-stealer1526
man-stealer1582
spirit1611
plagiary1613
spiriter1665
kidnapper1678
silver-cooper1796
abductor1809
body snatcher1852
shanghaier1917
snatcher1932
1665 T. White Exclusion of Scepticks Pref. sig. A4 Far worse..are Ignorants the while in the Method of Demonstrating, & neglect what He prescribes: Circumventers of Parents, Spiriters of Youth; whom, enveigled with a shew of Philosophy, they betray to vanity and prattle.
1675 C. Cotton Burlesque upon Burlesque 146 Whilst the poor Boy, half dead with fear, Writh'd back to view his Spiriter.
1925 M. D. George London Life XVIII Cent. iii. 143 The spiriter was superseded by the ‘office keeper’ who enrolled emigrants and used many arts to induce them to enter into indentures.
2013 G. Morgan & P. Rushton Banishment in Early Atlantic World i. 17 Accusations against those using coercion would recur throughout the history of the servant trade, from ‘spiriters’ in Restoration Bristol and London to the ‘soul-drivers’ in Ulster in the middle of the eighteenth century.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2020; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1665