assassinate

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin assassinatus (“killed”), the past participle of assassino (“to assassinate”) (recorded from 1582 or earlier), from assassinus (“assassin”).^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The OED compares Italian assassinare (14th century) and Middle French assassiner (1556).^[2] The obsolete noun, an assassination (1596) and later an assassin, is borrowed from Middle French assassinat (“assassination”), from the Medieval Latin past participle.^[2][5][4] The Latin noun is the source of assassin, which goes back through Italian assassino to an Arabic name for members of the Nizari Ismaili sect, a word connected with hashish;^[2][6][7] according to Etymonline the general sense "murderer" arose in Italian at the start of the 14th century.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

To murder a person, especially a prominent one, in a planned attack: 1600, in Matthew Sutcliffe's Briefe Replie to a Libel.^[2][5] Etymonline dates the verb to the 1610s.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The figurative sense, to destroy a person or thing, is recorded as early as 1607, in Ben Jonson's Volpone,^[2] and Etymonline dates its use of reputations and characters to the 1620s; it survives in character assassination.^[6][2] The intransitive use, to act as an assassin, is in Butler's Hudibras (1678).^[2] A passive use, to be attacked and wounded by an assassin, ran from 1681 to 1819.^[2] Etymonline quotes the Century Dictionary's definition: to kill wrongfully by surprise, suddenly or by secret assault.^[6]

Timeline

• 1596 – noun, an assassination (obsolete after 1836).^[2][5]
• 1600 – verb, to murder a prominent person in a planned attack.^[2][5]
• 1607 – figurative, to destroy or ruin, in Jonson's Volpone.^[2]
• 1621 – noun, an assassin (obsolete after 1814).^[2]
• 1678 – intransitive, to act as an assassin.^[2]
• 1681 – passive, to be attacked and wounded by an assassin (obsolete after 1819).^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To murder a person, usually a prominent or political figure, by a sudden or secret attack: The rebels plotted to assassinate the governor.^[8][5][2]
2. To ruin or harm a person's reputation by slander or treachery.^[8][5][2]
3. (obsolete) To attack with intent to murder.^[5][2]

Word family

• assassination
• assassinative
• assassinator
• unassassinated

Related words

• assassin
• hashish

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins