assassin

UK:*UK and possibly other pronunciationsUK and possibly other pronunciations/əˈsæsɪn/US:USA pronunciation: IPA and respellingUSA pronunciation: IPA/əˈsæsɪn/ ,USA pronunciation: respelling(ə sas′in)


WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
as•sas•sin /əˈsæsɪn/USA pronunciation   n. [countable]
  1. someone who murders for hire or from fanaticism.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
as•sas•sin  (ə sas′in),USA pronunciation n. 
  1. a murderer, esp. one who kills a politically prominent person for fanatical or monetary reasons.
  2. World History(cap.) one of an order of Muslim fanatics, active in Persia and Syria from about 1090 to 1272, whose chief object was to assassinate Crusaders.
  • Arabic ḥashshāshīn eaters of hashish
  • Medieval Latin assassinī (plural)
  • 1525–35

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
assassin / əˈsæsɪn/
  1. a murderer, esp one who kills a prominent political figure
Etymology: 16th Century: from Medieval Latin assassīnus, from Arabic hashshāshīn, plural of hashshāsh one who eats hashish
'assassin' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
Booth - Corday - Oswald - assassin bug - assassinate - ballot - booth - bravo - conenose - contract - executioner - hit man - kissing bug - reduviid - wheel bug

Forum discussions with the word(s) "assassin" in the title:


Look up "assassin" at Merriam-Webster
Look up "assassin" at dictionary.com
  • Go to Preferences page and choose from different actions for taps or mouse clicks.

In other languages: Spanish | French | Italian | Portuguese | Romanian | German | Dutch | Swedish | Russian | Polish | Czech | Greek | Turkish | Chinese | Japanese | Korean | Arabic

Advertisements
Advertisements
Report an inappropriate ad.
WordReference.com
WORD OF THE DAY
GET THE DAILY EMAIL!

Become a WordReference Supporter to view the site ad-free.