hello all,
please explain me, what's the difference between these three synonyms:
killer, assassin and murderer?

for example in the movie "unforgiven" in the beginning the titles say
that Clint's hero was a murderer and later on his dead friend was
signed as an assassin.


AN

"dorris26"  wrote in message 
news:v30s841thcka0aigi12phako6cqqtbf2k1@4ax.com...
> please explain me, what's the difference between these three 
> synonyms:
> killer, assassin and murderer?

If they were synonyms, there would be no difference... The OED 
reveals that a killer is one who deprives another creature of life, 
a murderer is one who *unlawfully* kills another *person*, and an 
assassin is (chiefly) the murderer of a *public* personage, 
generally hired for or devoted to the deed. The Assassin (a plural 
noun meaning hashish-eaters) were certain Muslim fanatics in the 
time of the Crusades, who were sent forth by their sheikh, the 'Old 
Man of the Mountains,' to murder the Christian leaders.
-- 
Noel

Ildhund wrote:
> "dorris26"  wrote in message 
> news:v30s841thcka0aigi12phako6cqqtbf2k1@4ax.com...
>> please explain me, what's the difference between these three synonyms:
>> killer, assassin and murderer?
> 
> If they were synonyms, there would be no difference... The OED reveals 
> that a killer is one who deprives another creature of life, a murderer 
> is one who *unlawfully* kills another *person*, and an assassin is 
> (chiefly) the murderer of a *public* personage, generally hired for or 
> devoted to the deed. The Assassin (a plural noun meaning hashish-eaters) 
> were certain Muslim fanatics in the time of the Crusades, who were sent 
> forth by their sheikh, the 'Old Man of the Mountains,' to murder the 
> Christian leaders.

... and also other Muslim leaders he was in conflict with.

REgards, Einde O'Callaghan

In  dorris26  writes:

>hello all,
>please explain me, what's the difference between these three synonyms:
>killer, assassin and murderer?

A "killer" is one who kills, in whatever circumstances.

He is a "murderer" if the killing was unlawful (or, more precisely, it was
deliberate and intentional, or as otherwise defined by the laws of the
country concerned).

He is an "assassin" if it was politically motivated (and probably regarded
as murder also, at least in the country where it happened).

-- 
Charles H. Lindsey ---------At Home, doing my own thing------------------------
Tel: +44 161 436 6131 Fax: +44 161 436 6133   Web: http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/~chl
Email: chl@clerew.man.ac.uk      Snail: 5 Clerewood Ave, CHEADLE, SK8 3JU, U.K.
PGP: 2C15F1A9      Fingerprint: 73 6D C2 51 93 A0 01 E7 65 E8 64 7E 14 A4 AB A5

19:27, lunedì 28 luglio 2008, dorris26:

> please explain me, what's the difference between these three
> synonyms: killer, assassin and murderer?


And what about "homicide"?


-- 
°¿°

ADPUF wrote:
> 19:27, lunedì 28 luglio 2008, dorris26:
> 
>> please explain me, what's the difference between these three
>> synonyms: killer, assassin and murderer?
> 
> 
> And what about "homicide"?
> 
> 
Homicide is simply the killing of a human being - this may or may not be 
lawful, e.g. killing in self-defence is homicide but it is not unlawful.

Regards, Einde O'Callaghan

"Einde O'Callaghan"  wrote in 
message news:6fdg30Favn7iU1@mid.individual.net...
> ADPUF wrote:
>> 19:27, lunedì 28 luglio 2008, dorris26:
>>
>>> please explain me, what's the difference between these three 
>>> synonyms: killer, assassin and murderer?
>>
>> And what about "homicide"?
>>
> Homicide is simply the killing of a human being - this may or may 
> not be lawful, e.g. killing in self-defence is homicide but it is 
> not unlawful.

This sort of thing is a real time-waster. OED's first definition is 
'One who kills a human being'; the act comes second. So far we can 
state that all assassins are murderers, all murderers are homicides 
and all homicides are killers, but not all killers are homicides, 
not all homicides are murderers and not all murderers are assassins.
-- 
Noel

13:00, giovedì 31 luglio 2008, Ildhund:
> "Einde O'Callaghan" 
>> ADPUF wrote:
>>> 19:27, lunedì 28 luglio 2008, dorris26:
>>>
>>>> please explain me, what's the difference between these
>>>> three synonyms: killer, assassin and murderer?
>>>
>>> And what about "homicide"?
>>>
>> Homicide is simply the killing of a human being - this may or
>> may not be lawful, e.g. killing in self-defence is homicide
>> but it is not unlawful.
> 
> This sort of thing is a real time-waster. OED's first
> definition is 'One who kills a human being'; the act comes
> second. So far we can state that all assassins are murderers,
> all murderers are homicides and all homicides are killers, but
> not all killers are homicides, not all homicides are murderers
> and not all murderers are assassins.


Please correct me, I am trying to understand.

killer: a person who deliberately cause the death of an animal;
homicide: a killer of a person (human been);
murderer: a homicide acting out of law;
assassin: a murderer acting on a person who is well known by
most other persons.

In Italian there isn't such distinction between murderer and
assassin.

I've read that persons killed by the State of Texas through
death penalty are classified with "homicide" as cause of their
death.


-- 
°¿°

ADPUF wrote:
> 13:00, giovedì 31 luglio 2008, Ildhund:
>> "Einde O'Callaghan" 
>>> ADPUF wrote:
>>>> 19:27, lunedì 28 luglio 2008, dorris26:
>>>>
>>>>> please explain me, what's the difference between these
>>>>> three synonyms: killer, assassin and murderer?
>>>> And what about "homicide"?
>>>>
>>> Homicide is simply the killing of a human being - this may or
>>> may not be lawful, e.g. killing in self-defence is homicide
>>> but it is not unlawful.
>> This sort of thing is a real time-waster. OED's first
>> definition is 'One who kills a human being'; the act comes
>> second. So far we can state that all assassins are murderers,
>> all murderers are homicides and all homicides are killers, but
>> not all killers are homicides, not all homicides are murderers
>> and not all murderers are assassins.
> 
> 
> Please correct me, I am trying to understand.
> 
> killer: a person who deliberately cause the death of an animal;

Not just animals - a killer might also kill a human being

> homicide: a killer of a person (human been);
> murderer: a homicide acting out of law;
> assassin: a murderer acting on a person who is well known by
> most other persons.

There is usually a political motive for an assassination.
> 
> In Italian there isn't such distinction between murderer and
> assassin.
> 
> I've read that persons killed by the State of Texas through
> death penalty are classified with "homicide" as cause of their
> death.
> 
This would be logical, but I can't confirm it.

REgards, Einde O'Callaghan

ADPUF wrote:
> 13:00, giovedì 31 luglio 2008, Ildhund:
>> "Einde O'Callaghan" 
>>> ADPUF wrote:
>>>> 19:27, lunedì 28 luglio 2008, dorris26:
>>>>
>>>>> please explain me, what's the difference between these
>>>>> three synonyms: killer, assassin and murderer?
>>>>
>>>> And what about "homicide"?
>>>>
>>> Homicide is simply the killing of a human being - this may or
>>> may not be lawful, e.g. killing in self-defence is homicide
>>> but it is not unlawful.
>>
>> This sort of thing is a real time-waster. OED's first
>> definition is 'One who kills a human being'; the act comes
>> second. So far we can state that all assassins are murderers,
>> all murderers are homicides and all homicides are killers, but
>> not all killers are homicides, not all homicides are murderers
>> and not all murderers are assassins.
>
>
> Please correct me, I am trying to understand.
>
> killer: a person who deliberately cause the death of an animal;
> homicide: a killer of a person (human been);
> murderer: a homicide acting out of law;
> assassin: a murderer acting on a person who is well known by
> most other persons.
>
> In Italian there isn't such distinction between murderer and
> assassin.

This may (or may not) explain why it was easy to translate "Buffy the 
Vampire Slayer" into Italian: there was already a word for "vampire 
slayer"... French and German presented more of a problem...
-- 
John Briggs

01:34, venerdì 1 agosto 2008, John Briggs:

>> killer: a person who deliberately cause the death of an
>> animal; homicide: a killer of a person (human been);
>> murderer: a homicide acting out of law;
>> assassin: a murderer acting on a person who is well known by
>> most other persons.
>>
>> In Italian there isn't such distinction between murderer and
>> assassin.
> 
> This may (or may not) explain why it was easy to translate
> "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" into Italian: there was already a
> word for "vampire slayer"...


What word do you mean?


> French and German presented more of a problem...


My old dictionary says that "slayer", and "to slay", are
"archaic or poetic or american", the first meaning killer or
murderer.

That TV series was translated in Italian as "Buffy
l'ammazzavampiri".

German: "Buffy ? Im Bann der Dämonen"
French: "Buffy contre les vampires"
(wikipedia)


-- 
°¿°

ADPUF  wrote:

> homicide: a killer of a person (human been);

Hmm. A living person is a human being. I suppose a person who has been
killed *ought* to be a human 'been'.

-- 
Alan Pemberton
Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England
To e-mail me directly, please visit
<http://www.pembers.freeserve.co.uk/index.html#Mail-me>