assassin English · revision 152
5 Oct 2026, 22:07 by bogdan “Add pronunciation, sense history, timeline, meanings, word family, related words” current version
Changes in this edit
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+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA: /əˈsæsɪn/ ''(UK)''^(Wiktionary)
+
==Etymology==
− Recorded in English from the 16th century,^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) and in Anglo-Latin from the mid-13th century.^(Etymonline) It is [[bor|fr|assassin]] or [[it|assassino]],^(OED 1989)^(Wiktionary) [[der|la-med|assassīnus]],^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate) [[der|ar|حَشَّاشِين|tr=ḥaššāšīn|t=hashish users]], plural of ''ḥaššāš'' “hashish user”,^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate) from ''ḥašīš'' “hashish”.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)
+ It is [[bor|fr|assassin]] or [[it|assassino]],^(OED 1989)^(Wiktionary) [[der|la-med|assassīnus]],^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate) [[der|ar|حَشَّاشِين|tr=ḥaššāšīn|t=hashish users]], plural of ''ḥaššāš'' “hashish user”,^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate) from ''ḥašīš'' “hashish”.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate) The Arabic plural ending ''-in'' was mistaken in Europe for part of the word.^(Etymonline) Wiktionary also records a derivation from Arabic ''asāsiyyīn'' “people faithful to the foundation (of the faith)”.^(Wiktionary)
− The Arabic word was a nickname, variously explained, for the Nizari Ismaili sect at the time of the Crusades.^(Etymonline) In Western Europe they were reputed to murder opposing leaders after intoxicating themselves with hashish, but there is no evidence that the medieval Ismailis used it.^(Etymonline) The Arabic plural ending ''-in'' was mistaken in Europe for part of the word.^(Etymonline) Wiktionary also records a derivation from Arabic ''asāsiyyīn'' “people faithful to the foundation (of the faith)”.^(Wiktionary)
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ The name of a Muslim sect at the time of the Crusades whose members were sent out to murder their enemies;^(OED 1989)^(AHD) the OED's earliest quotation is from c. 1237.^(OED 1989) Middle English had the word as ''hassais'' (mid-14th century), from Old French ''hassasis''.^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ The Arabic word was a nickname, variously explained, for the Nizari Ismaili sect.^(Etymonline) In Western Europe they were reputed to murder opposing leaders after intoxicating themselves with hashish, but there is no evidence that the medieval Ismailis used it.^(Etymonline) The generalized meaning “murderer” arose in Italian at the start of the 14th century, entered French in the mid-16th century, and English a little later.^(Etymonline) Today the word usually means one who murders a politically prominent person, for hire or from fanatical motives.^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * c. 1237 – the OED's first quotation, of the sect.^(OED 1989)
+ * mid-13th century – recorded in Anglo-Latin.^(Etymonline)
+ * mid-14th century – Middle English ''hassais''.^(Etymonline)
+ * 1530s – the English word ''assassin''.^(Etymonline)^(RHWU)
+ * 1603 – used in English of the Muslim sect.^(AHD)
+ * 1736 – figurative uses.^(OED 1989)
+
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Noun===
+ # Someone who murders a prominent person, especially a political figure, for money or from fanatical motives.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+ # ''(history)'' A member of a Nizari Ismaili sect at the time of the Crusades, known for killing its enemies.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[assassinate]]
+ * [[assassin bug]]
+
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[hashish]]
==References==