Where does “hit squad” come from?

hit squad (English) comes from English squad, from French escouade, from German Eskadron, from Italian squadra, from Italian squadrare, from Vulgar Latin exquadra, from Latin ex, from Latin commūnicō — whale, sea monster; abyss.

hit squad (English): A squad of assassins; A gang of people who...

Definitions

  1. A squad of assassins; A gang of people who...

Ancestry of “hit squad”, step by step

hit squad traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English squad

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishsquadA group of people organized for some common...
2Frenchescouadesquad, squadron
3GermanEskadron
4Italiansquadraset square, triangle; team, squad, group, side;...
5ItaliansquadrareTo delimit in a square or rectangular shape; to...
6Vulgar Latinexquadra
7LatinexA name of the letter "X"; out of, from
8Latincommūnicōto impart, share
9Latincommūniscommon, commonplace, ordinary, general, universal, shared, shared alike, of both sides, belonging to two or more together
10Old Latincom(m)oinis
11Proto-Italickommoiniscommon
12Proto-Indo-Europeanḱom-moy-ni-held in common
13Proto-Indo-Europeanḱómbeside, near, by, with
14Proto-Indo-EuropeanḱeDeictic particle, here; Post-positional...
15Middle Englishkyt
16Russianкитwhale; genitive plural of ки́та
17Old Church Slavonicкитъwhale
18Ancient Greekκῆτοςwhale, sea monster; abyss

via English hit

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Englishhit"To strike."; To manage to touch in the right...
2Middle EnglishhitThird-person singular neuter pronoun: it;...
3Old Englishhitit
4Proto-Germanichitnominative/accusative singular neuter of *hiz
5Proto-Indo-Europeanḱe-demonstrative particle; here; this, here
Every word from Ancient Greek κῆτοςEvery word from Old Church Slavonic китъEvery word from Russian кит