assassin

== English == === Etymology === From either French assassin or Italian assassino, from Arabic أَسَاسِيِّين (ʔasāsiyyīn, “people who are faithful to the foundation [of the faith]”) and the folkloric etymology Arabic حَشَّاشِين (ḥaššāšīn, “hashish users; low-lives”). The mathematical sense was introduced by Bourbaki, playing on the notation Ass ⁡ ( M ) {\displaystyle \operatorname {Ass} (M)} and the fact that an associated prime is the annihilator of an element, and so is said to kill that element. === Pronunciation === (UK) IPA(key): /əˈsæsɪn/ Rhymes: -æsɪn === Noun === assassin (plural assassins) Someone who intentionally kills a person, especially a professional who kills a public or political figure. Any ruthless killer. (historical, usually capitalized) A member of the Nizari Ismaili Muslim community of the Alamut Period. (algebra, somewhat humorous) An associated prime of a module. ==== Synonyms ==== See also Thesaurus:killer ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === Verb === assassin (third-person singular simple present assassins, present participle assassining, simple past and past participle assassined) (nonstandard) To assassinate. ==== Translations ==== == French == === Etymology === From either Arabic حَشَّاشِين (ḥaššāšīn, “hashish users”) or أَسَاسِيُّون (ʔasāsiyyūn). === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /a.sa.sɛ̃/ === Noun === assassin m (plural assassins, feminine assassine) an assassin or other murderer === Adjective === assassin (feminine assassine, masculine plural assassins, feminine plural assassines) deadly; fatal; that kills === Further reading === “assassin”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012