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Assassin
Definitions
- 1 Someone who intentionally kills a person, especially a professional who kills a public or political figure.
"The hand that held the bond of so many jarring interests lay powerless beneath the pall. The perils of war had been about him, and the midnight assassin had watched his path; yet he died quietly in his bed."
- 2 a murderer (especially one who kills a prominent political figure) who kills by a surprise attack and often is hired to do the deed wordnet
- 3 Any ruthless killer.
- 4 a member of a secret order of Muslims (founded in the 12th century) who terrorized and killed Christian Crusaders wordnet
- 5 A member of the Nizari Ismaili Muslim community of the Alamut Period. capitalized, historical, usually
"The Assassines, a nation depending of Phœnicia, are esteemed among the Mahometists of a soveraigne devotion and puritie of maners; they hold, that the readiest and shortest way to gaine Paradise, is to kill some one of a contrary religion[…]."
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- 6 An associated prime of a module. humorous
- 1 To assassinate. nonstandard
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 operatorname Ass(M) and the fact that an associated prime is the annihilator of an element, and so is said to kill that element.
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 operatorname Ass(M) and the fact that an associated prime is the annihilator of an element, and so is said to kill that element.
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