assassin

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a person who deliberately murders someone, especially a prominent person in a planned surprise attack

   Investigators searched the rooftops for the assassin who had targeted the minister.

Simplified etymology

Assassin entered English in the Middle English period through French from Arabic ḥašīšī, literally “hashish-eater.” The name was applied to members of the Nizari Ismaili sect associated with targeted killings during the Crusades. Stories claimed that they used hashish before such acts, but the term was probably a hostile nickname referring to behavior their opponents considered erratic, and the familiar tale of the “Old Man of the Mountains” is legendary.

From French assassin and Italian assassino, ultimately from an Arabic name applied in medieval sources to the Nizari Ismailis. It is often connected with Arabic ḥashshāshīn, literally 'hashish users,' but the exact history and the popular hashish story are disputed. European use broadened to any hired or treacherous murderer.

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary