Deffinition Essay of the word Assassin.
Thesis: The definition and history of the word assassin is very complex and intriguing. .
Assassin is usually a negative word describing a person hired to kill somebody, but that's not the reason I chose to write about this word. I chose assassin because it had an unusual history and I like the way it sounds. I was trying to think of a word to write about so I went to a web-site that was devoted to origins of words. On this page was a list of words and one of the words was assassin. I clicked on the word and its history intrigued me.
Webster's Dictionary defines assassin as a murderer, especially one that murders a politically important person either for fanatical motives or for hire. In other words, an assassin is a person who kills somebody because they are obsessed with them or somebody hired them to kill. The history of this word comes from the Arabic word hash, which is a plant used as an intoxicant. In the twelfth century, Europe gained knowledge about a murderous Ismaili group in Syria. This group became known as hash-takers which in Arabic means hashishi or hashshash. The Romance languages acquired these words with the plural ending -in. In France, it's referred to as assassin. In Spain, it's asesino. The English borrowed the assassin form from the French and is still used the same way today.
This is a well-known word. It has been used in books and has been the inspiration to many popular movies like The Professional and Natural Born Killers. Although this word has a negative connotation, it has fascinated many people. Through the years with the mafia, this word turned into hit man. Being an assassin has made some people famous. In New York about 15 years ago, Jon Gotti became famous for being the mastermind behind the assassination of the Columbo family's boss. One of the most recognized assassination was the John F. Kennedy assassination.
