assassin
pronunciation
How to pronounce assassin in British English:
UK [əˈsæsɪn]
How to pronounce assassin in American English:
US [əˈsæsn]
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- Noun:
- a murderer (especially one who kills a prominent political figure) who kills by a treacherous surprise attack and often is hired to do the deed
- a member of a secret order of Muslims (founded in the 12th century) who terroriszed and killed Christian Crusaders
Word Origin
- assassin
- assassin: [17] Etymologically, an assassin is an ‘eater or smoker of hashish’, the drug cannabis. In the Middle Ages, in the area of the Middle East and modern Iran, there was a sect of fanatical Ismaili Muslims, founded in the late 11th century by Hassan ibn Sabbah. Its members killed the sect’s opponents under the influence of cannabis. Hence the hashshāshīn (plural of hashshāsh, Arabic for ‘hashish-eater’) came to have a reputation as murderers. In English the Arabic plural form was perceived as singular. The word has retained its connotation of one who kills for political or religious rather than personal motives.=> hashish
- assassin (n.)
- 1530s (in Anglo-Latin from mid-13c.), via French and Italian, from Arabic hashishiyyin "hashish-users," plural of hashishiyy, from the source of hashish (q.v.). A fanatical Ismaili Muslim sect of the time of the Crusades, under leadership of the "Old Man of the Mountains" (translates Arabic shaik-al-jibal, name applied to Hasan ibu-al-Sabbah), with a reputation for murdering opposing leaders after intoxicating themselves by eating hashish. The plural suffix -in was mistaken in Europe for part of the word (compare Bedouin).
Synonym
Example
- 1. He died shortly after his greatest triumph at the hands of an assassin .
- 2. Assassin spiders lure their prey to them by plucking at the web of their intended target .
- 3. But the show established a public profile for raymond , one that grew when assassin 's creed hit shelves in 2007 .
- 4. It produces some of the industry 's biggest-selling titles , including the prince of persia and assassin 's creed franchises .
- 5. The assassin and his accomplice claimed to be envoys from the taliban 's governing body in pakistan , the quetta shura .