# Assassination vs murder **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 27, 2006, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assassination-vs-murder/354498 "2006-04-27T19:35:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assassination-vs-murder/354498/1 "2006-04-27T19:35:50Z")
If someone is deliberately killed, when is it called assassination and when murder? What divides the two? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assassination-vs-murder/354498/2 "2006-04-27T19:48:37Z")
I’m sure a dictionary will differentiate the terms adequately, but I’m not even going to look it up. My reaction to the term “assassination” is that somebody famous, and most likely in public service or some high position, has been murdered. Otherwise, murder means somebody deliberately killed somebody else. Chris Rock’s distinction is as good as any. He said that JFK, RFK and MLK were assassinated, but that Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls were “just shot.” ---
**Author:** ![Queuing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/90ced4/32.png) [@Queuing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queuing)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assassination-vs-murder/354498/3 "2006-04-27T19:52:27Z")
I have always thought it had something to do with being paid to do the job. Someone pays you to kill someone you just became an assassin. You just kill someone, and while you may gain monetarily (from life insurance, or something), you just became a murderer. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assassination-vs-murder/354498/4 "2006-04-27T20:03:49Z")
> [@Queuing](#): > > I have always thought it had something to do with being paid to do the job. Someone pays you to kill someone you just became an assassin. You just kill someone, and while you may gain monetarily (from life insurance, or something), you just became a murderer. Well we do say “paid assassin” but we also say “hired killer” so I’d not agree that being paid is the distinction. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assassination-vs-murder/354498/5 "2006-04-27T20:12:46Z")
[Dictionary.com](http://Dictionary.com): assassination. 1. To murder (a prominent person) by surprise attack, as for political reasons. 2. To destroy or injure treacherously: assassinate a rival’s character. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assassination-vs-murder/354498/6 "2006-04-27T20:14:24Z")
I think of assasination has being carried out to achieve a political, cultural, or social result. A government official is assasinated to intimidate other people to quit the government, for example. I think of murder as being committed for personal reasons such as to get insurance money, or because the killer personally hates the victim. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assassination-vs-murder/354498/7 "2006-04-27T20:24:52Z")
> [@Queuing](#): > > I have always thought it had something to do with being paid to do the job. Someone pays you to kill someone you just became an assassin. You just kill someone, and while you may gain monetarily (from life insurance, or something), you just became a murderer. That’s easy to disprove. None of the presidential assassins (successful or otherwise) were paid by anybody. Yet anyone who tries to kill a president is automatically an assassin. ---
**Author:** ![Cabbage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@Cabbage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabbage)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assassination-vs-murder/354498/8 "2006-04-27T21:04:33Z")
If the killer is smoking hashish at the time, then he’s an assassin. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assassination-vs-murder/354498/9 "2006-04-27T21:06:44Z")
> [@Cabbage](#): > > If the killer is smoking hashish at the time, then he’s an assassin. Hasn’t that etymology been debunked (maybe even on the SD)? ---
**Author:** ![Cabbage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@Cabbage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabbage)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assassination-vs-murder/354498/10 "2006-04-27T21:08:22Z")
> [@OneCentStamp](#): > > Hasn’t that etymology been debunked (maybe even on the SD)? I actually don’t know, it’s the only etymology I’m familiar with. I’d like to see the debunking if it has been. ---
**Author:** ![Cabbage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@Cabbage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabbage)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assassination-vs-murder/354498/11 "2006-04-27T21:15:40Z")
I searched and found this column: [http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/massassin.html](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/massassin.html) The column doesn’t debunk the etymology, but it admits that it’s not universally accepted: > [@](#): > > Inaccuracies did not hinder the dissemination of the Nizari legend and medieval chroniclers eventually opted to use the Arabic term hashishiyya (user of hash) over a myriad of other colorful terms to designate the Nizaris. The word became inseparable from the stories of murder, treachery, and excess and is thought to have evolved into the modern word assassin, although this etymology is not universally accepted. In any case, there is no basis for the belief that Nizari assassins did their business while hopped up on drugs. ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assassination-vs-murder/354498/12 "2006-04-27T21:56:55Z")
So assassination is a subset of murder, involving a victim with enough fame/power/money/etc to potentially result in change of some sort? Does the purpose of the killing have to be to bring about change? If I kill a random stranger in the grocery store, does if change from murder to assassination if that person is the dog catcher or the head of some government? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assassination-vs-murder/354498/13 "2006-04-27T22:03:50Z")
> [@Tastes of Chocolate](#): > > So assassination is a subset of murder, involving a victim with enough fame/power/money/etc to potentially result in change of some sort? > > Does the purpose of the killing have to be to bring about change? If I kill a random stranger in the grocery store, does if change from murder to assassination if that person is the dog catcher or the head of some government? Dog catcher? No. Head of some government? Most likely. Assassination is a special case of murder. The importance of the victim has more to do with it than the issue of why the murderer acted and whether or not he/she was paid. The notion of “change” brought on by the murder may factor in to its being deemed an assassination, but had the Pope been killed in the assassination attempt on him, it would have obviously brought in a new pope (a change) but the fame and exalted position of the Pope would be the more dominant issue. All of this is my opinion and only hopefully a view shared by those who have more access to real legal definitions. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assassination-vs-murder/354498/14 "2006-04-27T22:20:06Z")
To me… Killing of humans may or may not be permitted by society. Murder is that killing of humans which is not permitted by society. Assassination is killing of humans to achieve political result, as others have said upthread. Assassination is therefore almost always a subset of murder, unless you have a society that permits people to kill for political gain. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2006, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assassination-vs-murder/354498/15 "2006-04-28T03:52:04Z")
> [@Tastes of Chocolate](#): > > So assassination is a subset of murder, involving a victim with enough fame/power/money/etc to potentially result in change of some sort? > > Does the purpose of the killing have to be to bring about change? If I kill a random stranger in the grocery store, does if change from murder to assassination if that person is the dog catcher or the head of some government? You have the case of [Anna Lindh](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Lindh), who was killed while shopping by someone who was evidently mentally ill. I am not certain, but I don’t think her killer actually knew who she was. Personally, I would consider this to be a murder, rather than an assassination; but the Wiki article calls it an assassination. Was the killing of John Lennon an assassination or a murder? Some would consider it an assassination, because of the prominence of the victim. On the other hand, one could argue that it was not, because the motivation was not political. (Of course, neither was John Hinkley’s motivation for shooting Ronald Reagan - although the victim was chosen because of his prominence.) ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2006, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assassination-vs-murder/354498/16 "2006-04-28T04:31:12Z")
[Chris Rock addresses this distinction](http://www.script-o-rama.com/movie_scripts/c/chris-rock-bigger-and-blacker-script.html) in contextually accurate, but not very PC way. > [@](#): > > When we got no leaders, when something happens… we make the shit bigger than it is. lt’s big, but don’t make it bigger than it is. l’m watching the news, and like, 'Tupac Shakur was assassinated. ‘‘Biggie Smalls, assassinated. Struck down by assassin’s bullets.’’ > > l’m like, ‘‘No, they wasn’t!’’ Martin Luther King was assassinated. Malcolm X was assassinated. John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Them two niggers got shot. > > Shit, l love Tupac, l love Biggie, but school will be open on their birthday. l don’t think you’ll see their pictures hanging up… in your grandmamma’s living room. > ''That’s Abraham, Martin, and Pac. ''And right here, l got one f Jesus and Biggie on the seesaw. ‘‘Jesus always in the air.’’ ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2006, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assassination-vs-murder/354498/17 "2006-04-28T04:44:48Z")
Merriam-Webster has a somewhat different defintion than [Dictionary.com](http://Dictionary.com): > [@](#): > > assassinate > 1 : to injure or destroy unexpectedly and treacherously > 2 : to murder by sudden or secret attack usually for impersonal reasons This doesn’t even mention the prominence of the victim; instead what is considered important is the impersonal nature of the attack. According to this definition, a hired killer would qualify as an assassin, even if the victim was insignificant. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2006, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assassination-vs-murder/354498/18 "2006-04-28T05:51:33Z")
I’ve been debunking the hashish etymology for years now, I don’t remember if I posted it here, I might have. Short version: _hashshâsh_ (habitué of hashish) had been used in colloquial Arabic for a daft or crazy person, like nowadays we would say “You trippin.” Cannabis is not known for provoking violence; quite the opposite, I would say. The top religious rank in the Nizari Isma‘ili community was called _asas_, the Arabic word for ‘foundation’ or ‘base’. Yes, they were the 11th-century al-Qa‘idah. There are two words for base in Arabic, and they’ve both been used by terrorists. Anyway, my theory is that opponents of the Isma‘ilis mocked them by replacing the word _asas_ with _hashshash_ as a joke. It got repeated so many times that by the time Marco Polo heard it, he probably wasn’t aware it originated as a pun. Incidentally, the word _hashîsh_ in Arabic literally means ‘grass’. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2006, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assassination-vs-murder/354498/19 "2006-04-28T05:57:20Z")
In Spanish we have a word that doesn’t seem to exist in English: _ajusticiamiento_, meaning “the making of justice”. It only applies to tyrants, and seems to excuse the murder for the common good. I like that word. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2006, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assassination-vs-murder/354498/20 "2006-04-28T14:50:30Z")
> [@Mighty\_Girl](#): > > In Spanish we have a word that doesn’t seem to exist in English: _ajusticiamiento_, meaning “the making of justice”. It only applies to tyrants, and seems to excuse the murder for the common good. I like that word. Interestingly, the normal word for murder in Spanish is _asasinato_, though _homicidio_ is also used. I’m not contradicting what you say, since that may be a connotation, but both my Spanish-English dictionaries give _asasinato_ as the translation for “assassination” as well as for murder, and translate _ajusticiamiento_ as the execution of a criminal. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assassination-vs-murder/354498.md?page=2)