To murder someone, usually someone important like a leader or public figure, often for political reasons.
From Arabic 'ashashin' (the Assassins), referring to a medieval Islamic group of fighters. The word literally meant 'hashish-eater' and entered European languages through Medieval Latin as a term for skilled, secretive killers.
The word literally comes from a group that was rumored (probably falsely) to use hashish before their missions—the legends about them were so wild that their name became synonymous with political murder! It's wild that a medieval rumor about a drug became one of English's most dramatic words.
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