Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1500-1600
Language: Medieval Latin
Origin: assassinus, from Arabic hashshashin 'one who smokes hashish (and then kills religious enemies)', from hashish

assassin

 noun
     
as‧sas‧sin [countable]
someone who murders an important person:
Kennedy's assassin is assumed to have been Lee Harvey Oswald.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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