From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishassassinas‧sas‧sin /əˈsæsɪn/ ●○○ noun [countable] KILLsomeone who murders an important person Kennedy’s assassin is assumed to have been Lee Harvey Oswald.
Examples from the Corpus
assassin• The would-be assassin was a member of the presidential bodyguard and of the elite Revolutionary Guard.• His assassins must have been aware of his security arrangements.• Professional assassins are going to stab somebody over and over again and leave all this evidence besides?• The danger from the footpad, the silent assassin, was always present, here in his church or across the river.• Although the assassins were never caught, it is commonly believed that they were working for the government.• The assassin had planned to shoot Park in the lobby of the theater, but failed to get an unobstructed view.• Whoever had sent these assassins had completely underestimated the fat knight.Origin assassin (1500-1600) Medieval Latin assassinus, from Arabic hashshashin “one who smokes hashish (and then kills religious enemies)”, from hashish 