assassin

English

Etymology

From either (deprecated template usage) [etyl] French assassin or (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Italian assassino, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Arabic أَسَاسِيِّين (ʔasāsiyyīn, “people who are faithful to the foundation [of the faith]”) and the folkloric etymology (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Arabic حَشَّاشِين (ḥaššāšīn, “hashish users”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əˈsæsɪn/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æsɪn

Noun

assassin (plural assassins)

1. (historical) A member of a Muslim group who employed assassination of key enemy figures as their tactic.
   • Template:RQ:Florio Montaigne Essayes

   (by extension, historical) A member of the Nizari Ismaili sect of Islam

2. Someone who intentionally kills a person, especially a professional who kills a public or political figure.
   • 2013 June 29, “Travels and travails”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 55:

     Even without hovering drones, a lurking assassin, a thumping score and a denouement, the real-life story of Edward Snowden, a rogue spy on the run, could be straight out of the cinema. But, as with Hollywood, the subplots and exotic locations may distract from the real message: America’s discomfort and its foes’ glee.

3. Any ruthless killer.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:killer

Derived terms

Terms derived from assassin (noun)

• assassin spider
• assassinate
• assassination

• assassinator
• assassinatrix

• assassinous
• royal assassin
• assassinship

Translations

member of the historical Ismaili Muslim militant group

• Arabic: حَشَّاش m (ḥaššāš)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 哈萨辛 (hāsàxīn)

• Czech: asasín m, hašašín
• Danish: assassiner (da) pl
• Dutch: assassijn, Assassijn
• French: assassin (fr) m
• German: Assassine (de) m
• Greek: ασσασίνος (el) m (assasínos)
• Hungarian: asszaszin (hu)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Interlingue:
• Italian: assassino (it) m
• Persian: حشاشین (ḥaššâšin)
• Polish: asasyn m
• Portuguese: assassino (pt) m
• Russian: ассаси́н (ru) m (assasín), хашаши́н m (xašašín)
• Serbo-Croatian: asasin (sh) m
• Slovak: asasín m
• Turkish: haşhaşi
• Welsh: asasin m

one who, motivated by political reasons, intentionally kills a particular person

• Albanian: please add this translation if you can
• Arabic: قَاتِل (ar) m (qātil), سَفَّاح m (saffāḥ), سَفَّاك m (saffāk)
• Armenian: մարդասպան (hy) (mardaspan)
• Bulgarian: терорист (terorist)
• Catalan: assassí (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 刺客 (zh) (cìkè), 凶手 (zh) (xiōngshǒu)

• Czech: atentátník (cs) m
• Danish: snigmorder c, snigmorderske c, attentatmand c, attentatkvinde c, lønmorder c
• Dutch: sluipmoordenaar (nl) m, huurmoordenaar (nl) m (professional murderer)
• Esperanto: murdinto, murdintino (female)
• Estonian: palgamõrvar
• Faroese: slysdrápsmaður m
• Finnish: salamurhaaja (fi)
• French: assassin (fr) m
• Galician: asasino (gl) m
• Georgian: კილერი (ḳileri), დაქირავებული მკვლელი (dakiravebuli mḳvleli)
• German: Attentäter (de) m, Attentäterin (de) f, Mörder (de) m, Mörderin (de) f
• Greek: δολοφόνος (el) m or f (dolofónos)
• Hebrew: מתנקש m (mitnakesh)
• Hungarian: bérgyilkos (hu)
• Icelandic: launmorðingi m
• Interlingue:
• Irish: feallmharfóir m
• Italian: assassino (it) m, assassina (it) f
• Japanese: 暗殺者 (あんさつしゃ, ansatsusha), 刺客 (ja) (しきゃく, shikyaku), キラー (kirā)
• Khmer: ឃាតករ (kʰiet kɑɑ)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Korean: 암살자 (amsalja), 자객 (ko) (jagaek)
• Latin: assassīnus m, percussor m, sicarius
• Latvian: algots slepkava f, slepkava f
• Macedonian: атентатор m (atentator)
• Malay: pembunuh upahan
• Norman: assâsîn m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: snikmorder m, snikmorderske m or f, attentatmann m, attentatkvinne m or f, lønnmorder m

  Nynorsk: snikmordar m, attentatmann m, attentatkvinne f

• Oriya: please add this translation if you can
• Persian: آدمکش (fa) (âdamkoš)
• Polish: zamachowiec (pl) m, skrytobójca (pl) m, skrytobójczyni f
• Portuguese: assassino (pt) m, assassina (pt) f
• Russian: уби́йца (ru) m or f (ubíjca), ки́ллер (ru) m (kíller), наёмный уби́йца (ru) m (najómnyj ubíjca)
• Serbo-Croatian: atentator (sh) m, атентатор m
• Slovak: atentátnik m
• Slovene: atentator m, atentatorka f
• Spanish: asesino (es) m, asesina (es) f
• Swedish: lönnmördare (sv) c, lönnmörderska (sv) c
• Tagalog: manlilingo
• Thai: ผู้สังหาร (pûu-sǎng-hǎan)
• Tibetan: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: suikastçı (tr)
• Vietnamese: kẻ ám sát, sát thủ (vi)
• Welsh: bradlofrudd m
• Yiddish: רוצח m (retseyekh), מערדער m (merder)

any ruthless killer

• Bulgarian: уби́ец (bg) m (ubíec)
• Catalan: assassí (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 暗殺者／暗杀者 (zh) (ànshāzhě), 暗杀者 (zh) (ànshāzhě)

• Danish: morder (da) c, drabsmand c
• Dutch: moordenaar (nl) m
• French: assassin (fr) m
• Galician: asasino (gl) m, asasina f
• Georgian: მკვლელი (mḳvleli)
• German: Meuchelmörder (de) m, Meuchelmörderin (de) f, Mörder (de) m, Mörderin (de) f
• Greek: δολοφόνος (el) m or f (dolofónos)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Interlingue:
• Italian: assassino (it) m, assassina (it) f
• Latin: sīcārius m
• Norman: assâsîn m, assâsine f
• Polish: zabójca (pl) m, zabójczyni (pl) f, zbójczyni (pl) f
• Portuguese: assassino (pt) m, assassina (pt) f
• Russian: уби́йца (ru) m or f (ubíjca)
• Scottish Gaelic: murtair m
• Serbo-Croatian: ubojica (sh), убојица m
• Slovak: vrah (sk) m
• Spanish: asesino (es) m, asesina (es) f
• Turkish: katil (tr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Korean: ^{(please verify)} 자객 (ko) (jagaek)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

Verb

assassin (third-person singular simple present assassins, present participle assassining, simple past and past participle assassined)

1. (nonstandard) To assassinate.

Translations

assassinate — see assassinate

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French

Etymology

From either (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Arabic حَشَّاشِين (ḥaššāšīn, “hashish users”) or أَسَاسِيُّون (ʔasāsiyyūn).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.sa.sɛ̃/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

assassin m (plural assassins)

1. an assassin

Adjective

assassin (feminine assassine, masculine plural assassins, feminine plural assassines)

1. deadly; fatal; that kills

Further reading

• “assassin”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.