murder

A2 Topic:Crime & Justice

US /ˈmɝ.dɚ/ UK /ˈmɜːdə(ɹ)/ See IPA manual

Freq #606

Meanings

1

noun
The crime of killing another person on purpose.

There have been ten unsolved murders this year.
2

verb
To kill another person on purpose and unlawfully.

He was sent to prison for murdering his business partner.
3

noun
Something very difficult or unpleasant to deal with.

This headache is murder.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

assassination homicide manslaughter

Word family

Forms murderedmurderingmurdersmurthering

Derived forms antimurderarchmurdereraxe-murderaxe-murderercountermurdermegamurdermultimurdermurdelizemurder-for-hiremurder-hobomurder-holemurder-suicide

Appears in

Phrases (3)

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Proverbs (2)

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Simplified etymology

Murder is an Old English word whose ancient root is also represented by Latin mors “death,” the source of mortal and words related to mortuary.

Etymology

From Middle English murder, murdre, mourdre, alteration of earlier murthre (“murder”) (see murther), from Old English morþor (“secret slaying, unlawful killing”) and Old English myrþra (“murder, homicide”), both from Proto-West Germanic *morþr, from Proto-Germanic *murþrą (“death, killing, murder”), from Proto-Indo-European *mr̥tro- (“killing”), from Proto-Indo-European *mer-, *mor-, *mr̥- (“to die”). Akin to Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌸𐍂 (maurþr, “murder”), Old High German mord (“murder”), Old Norse morð (“murder”), Old English myrþrian (“to murder”) and morþ. The -d- in the Middle English form may have been…

*mer- Proto-Indo-European murder Middle English morþor Old English *morþr Proto-West Germanic *murþrą Proto-Germanic *mr̥tro- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Crime & Justice

External links

# murder

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈmɝ.dɚ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈmɜːdə(ɹ)/
**Frequency rank:** 606

## Meanings
1. The crime of killing another person on purpose.
2. To kill another person on purpose and unlawfully.
3. Something very difficult or unpleasant to deal with.

## Examples
- There have been ten unsolved murders this year.
- He was sent to prison for murdering his business partner.
- This headache is murder.

## Synonyms
- assassination
- homicide
- manslaughter

## Derived Forms
- antimurder
- archmurderer
- axe-murder
- axe-murderer
- countermurder
- megamurder
- multimurder
- murdelize
- murder-for-hire
- murder-hobo
- murder-hole
- murder-suicide

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *mer-
- Root: murder
- Root: morþor
- Root: *morþr
- Root: *murþrą
- Root: *mr̥tro-

## Etymology
From Middle English murder, murdre, mourdre, alteration of earlier murthre (“murder”) (see murther), from Old English morþor (“secret slaying, unlawful killing”) and Old English myrþra (“murder, homicide”), both from Proto-West Germanic *morþr, from Proto-Germanic *murþrą (“death, killing, murder”), from Proto-Indo-European *mr̥tro- (“killing”), from Proto-Indo-European *mer-, *mor-, *mr̥- (“to die”). Akin to Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌸𐍂 (maurþr, “murder”), Old High German mord (“murder”), Old Norse morð (“murder”), Old English myrþrian (“to murder”) and morþ. The -d- in the Middle English form may have been…

## AI Etymology
Murder comes from Middle English murder, murdre, mourdre, alteration of earlier murthre (“murder”) (see murther), from Old English morþor (“secret slaying, unlawful killing”) and Old English myrþra (“murder, homicide”), both from Proto-West Germanic *morþr, from Proto-Germanic *murþrą (“death, killing, murder”), from Proto-Indo-European *mr̥tro- (“killing”), from Proto-Indo-European *mer-, *mor-, *mr̥- (“to die”). Akin to Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌸𐍂 (maurþr, “murder”), Old High German mord (“murder”), Old Norse morð (“murder”), Old English myrþrian (“to murder”) and morþ. In present-day English its meanings include the crime of killing another person on purpose, to kill another person on purpose and unlawfully, and something very difficult or unpleasant to deal with.

## Topics
- Crime & Justice

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