Where does “assassinate” come from?
Assassinate derives from English assassin, from French assassin, from Italian assassino, ultimately from Latin roots meaning "one who kills," with the verb form developed through Latin -are and adjectival suffixes -alis and -aris.
assassinate (English): To murder someone, especially an important...
Definitions
- To murder someone, especially an important...
Ancestry of “assassinate”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | -ate | having the specified thing; characterized by the... |
| 2 | English | -cy | Used to form nouns of state, condition or quality... |
| 3 | Anglo-Norman | -cie | — |
| 4 | Latin | -tia | office, rank |
| 5 | Latin | -ia | Used to form a feminine abstract noun, usually... |
| 6 | Latin | -ius | forming adjectives from nouns; nominative neuter... |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | -jōs | Forms comparative adjectives |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -yós | Creates adjectives from noun or verb stems |