assassination
UK[əˌsæsɪˈneɪʃən]US[əˌsæsəˈneɪʃən]
n
The murder of an important person, especially for political or religious reasons.
n
The act of killing someone suddenly or secretly.
Morpheme Breakdown
assassinate
ion
assassinate
to murder
ion
noun suffix
Etymology
The word's journey begins with the Arabic 'ḥashshāshīn' (plural of 'ḥashshāsh', meaning 'hashish-eater'), the name for a secretive Nizari Ismaili sect active in Persia and Syria from the 11th to 13th centuries. They were reputed to use hashish and were infamous for carrying out politically motivated murders of Crusader and Muslim leaders. This Arabic term passed into Medieval Latin as 'assassinus', meaning a hired murderer, and then into European languages. The verb 'assassinate' was formed in English, and by adding the noun-forming suffix '-ion', the abstract noun 'assassination' was created to denote the specific act of treacherous, politically motivated murder, carrying the historical weight of its origins.
Analysis
Structure: assassinate (to murder) + ion (noun suffix)
The base 'assassinate' is derived from Medieval Latin 'assassinare', from 'assassinus' (murderer, hashish-user). The suffix '-ion' is from Latin '-ionem', a noun-forming suffix indicating an action or process.
Examples
The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand was a catalyst for World War I.
The plot involved the assassination of several key government officials.
He survived an assassination attempt while on the campaign trail.