assassin
UK[əˈsæs.ɪn]US[əˈsæs.ən]
n
A person who murders an important person for political or religious reasons.
n
(historical) A member of a secret order of Nizari Ismailis in the 11th–13th centuries, reputed to carry out political murders.
Etymology
The word 'assassin' has a storied and circuitous journey into English. It originates from the Arabic 'ḥashshāshīn' (plural of 'ḥashshāsh'), meaning "users of hashish," a name applied to the Nizari Ismailis by their enemies, implying they were intoxicated when carrying out killings. This term passed into Medieval Latin as 'assassinus' and Old French as 'assassin', referring specifically to the sect. English adopted the word in the 16th century, initially with this historical meaning. Over time, the term generalized, shedding its specific ethnic and narcotic connotations to denote any politically or religiously motivated murderer of a prominent figure, thus transforming a culturally specific label into a universal abstract concept.
Analysis
The word is a loanword from Medieval Latin, entering English as a single, unanalyzable unit. Its internal structure (e.g., 'assass' + 'in') does not correspond to productive English morphemes.
Examples
The novel features a plot to hire an assassin to kill the president.
Historical accounts describe the Assassins as a formidable sect during the Crusades.
He was convicted of acting as an assassin for the rival organization.