Word Study
assassin
CIDE DICTIONARY
assassin, n. [F. (cf. It. assassino), fr. Ar. one who has drunk of the hashish. Under its influence the Assassins of the East, followers of the Shaikh al-Jabal (Old Man of the Mountain), were said to commit the murders required by their chief.].
One who kills, or attempts to kill, by surprise or secret assault; one who treacherously murders any one unprepared for defense. [1913 Webster]
assassin, v. t.
To assassinate. Stillingfleet. [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
assassin, n.
1 a killer, esp. of a political or religious leader.
2 hist. any of a group of Muslim fanatics sent on murder missions in the time of the Crusades.
1 a killer, esp. of a political or religious leader.
2 hist. any of a group of Muslim fanatics sent on murder missions in the time of the Crusades.
Etymology
F assassin or f. med.L assassinus f. Arab. hassas hashish-eater
THESAURUS
assassin
Cain, alarmist, apache, assassinator, bloodletter, bloodshedder, bomber, bravo, burker, butcher, button man, cannibal, cutthroat, desperado, eradicator, executioner, exterminator, garroter, gorilla, gun, gunman, gunsel, hatchet man, head-hunter, hit man, homicidal maniac, homicide, killer, man-eater, man-killer, manslayer, massacrer, matador, murderer, pesticide, poison, poisoner, scaremonger, slaughterer, slayer, strangler, terrorist, thug, torpedo, trigger manROGET THESAURUS
assassin
Destroyer
N destroyer &c (destroy), cankerworm, assassin, executioner, biblioclast, eidoloclast, iconoclast, idoloclast, nihilist.Killing
N killing, homicide, manslaughter, murder, assassination, trucidation, iccusion, effusion of blood, blood, blood shed, gore, slaughter, carnage, butchery, battue, massacre, fusillade, noyade, thuggery, Thuggism, deathblow, finishing stroke, coup de grace, quietus, execution, judicial murder, martyrdom, butcher, slayer, murderer, Cain, assassin, terrorist, cutthroat, garroter, bravo, Thug, Moloch, matador, sabreur, guet-a-pens, gallows, executioner, man-eater, apache, hatchet man, highbinder, regicide, parricide, matricide, fratricide, infanticide, feticide, foeticide, uxoricide, vaticide, suicide, felo de se, hara-kiri, suttee, Juggernath, immolation, auto da fe, holocaust, suffocation, strangulation, garrote, hanging, lapidation, deadly weapon, Aceldama, slaughtering, phthisozoics, sport, sporting, the chase, venery, hunting, coursing, shooting, fishing, pig- sticking, sportsman, huntsman, fisherman, hunter, Nimrod, slaughterhouse, meat packing plant, shambles, abattoir, fatal accident, violent death, casualty, killing, murderous, slaughterous, sanguinary, sanguinolent, blood stained, blood thirsty, homicidal, red handed, bloody, bloody minded, ensanguined, gory, thuggish, mortal, fatal, lethal, dead, deadly, mortiferous, lethiferous, unhealthy internecine, suicidal, sporting, piscatorial, piscatory, in at the death, assassination has never changed the history of the.For further exploring for "assassin" in Webster Dictionary Online
