The word “assassin” refers to someone who deliberately kills another person, often for political, ideological, or financial reasons. Its origin traces back to the Arabic word “ḥashshāshīn,” used during the Crusades to describe a secretive sect known for targeted killings. Today, the term is widely recognized across languages and cultures, with each language adapting it to fit its linguistic structure. Whether it’s “assassin” in French and English, “suikastçı” in Turkish, or “暗殺者 (ansatsusha)” in Japanese, the concept remains the same—someone who operates with stealth, intent, and purpose, often in the shadows.
Arabic – قاتل مأجور (qatil ma’jūr) / مغتال (mughtāl)
French – assassin
German – Attentäter / Meuchelmörder
Spanish – asesino / asesino a sueldo
Italian – assassino
Portuguese – assassino
Russian – убийца / наёмный убийца (naemnyy ubiytsa)
Turkish – suikastçı
Chinese (Simplified) – 刺客 (cìkè)
Japanese – 暗殺者 (ansatsusha)
Korean – 암살자 (amsalja)
Hindi – हत्यारा (hatyāra) / क़ातिल (qatil)
Urdu – قاتل (qatil) / سفاک قاتل
Persian (Farsi) – قاتل / آدمکش (ādam-kosh)
Hebrew – מתנקש (mitnakesh)
Greek – δολοφόνος (dolofónos) / εκτελεστής (ektelestís)
Dutch – huurmoordenaar / moordenaar
Polish – zabójca / zamachowiec
Romanian – asasin
Swedish – lönnmördare
Finnish – salamurhaaja
Danish – snigmorder
Hungarian – orgyilkos
Czech – vrah / nájemný vrah
Slovak – vrah / atentátnik
Bulgarian – убиец (ubiets) / наемен убиец
Ukrainian – вбивця (vbivtsya)
Thai – นักลอบสังหาร (nák-lôp-sǎng-hăan)
Vietnamese – sát thủ
Swahili – muuaji wa kukodi
Zulu – umbulali
Xhosa – umbulali
Malay / Indonesian – pembunuh / pembunuh bayaran
Tagalog (Filipino) – mamamatay-tao / bayarang mamamatay
Bengali – খুনি (khuni) / ভাড়াটে খুনি (bhāṛāṭe khuni)
Punjabi – ਕਾਤਲ (kātl)
Tamil – கொலைகாரன் (kolaikāraṉ)
Telugu – హంతకుడు (hantakuḍu)
Kannada – ಹಂತಕ (hantaka)
Marathi – खुनी (khunī)
Sinhala – ඝාතකයා (ghātakaya)
Lao – ນັກສັງຫານ (nák-săng-hān)
Khmer – ឃាតករ (kheatakor)
Burmese – လုပ်ကြံသူ (loat-kyan-thu)
Mongolian – алуурчин (aluurchin)
Georgian – მკვლელი (mkvleli)
Amharic – ገዳይ (geday)
Yiddish – מאָרדער (morder)
Latin – sicarius / interfector
Esperanto – murdisto
Haitian Creole – ansasen / asasen
Tajik – кушторкунанда (kushtorkunanda)
Kazakh – өлтіруші (öltiruşi)
Uzbek – qotil / yollanma qotil
Pashto – قاتل / وژونکی
Armenian – մարդասպան (mardaspan)
Azerbaijani – qatil
Serbian – убица (ubica)
Bosnian – ubica / atentator
Croatian – ubojica
Albanian – vrasës
Basque – hiltzaile
Galician – asasino
Welsh – llofrudd
Irish – feallmharfóir
Scottish Gaelic – murtair
Icelandic – morðingi
Norwegian – snikmorder
Estonian – salamõrvar
Latvian – slepkava
Lithuanian – žudikas