Vol. 09 · Loanwords ·Arabic ·1530s
Assassin
from ḥashīshiyyīn
- Meaning
- Literally "hashish users" — a 12th-century epithet for a Nizari Isma'ili sect in the Levant.
- Source word
- ḥashīshiyyīn
- Route into English
- Crusader accounts brought the word back; Marco Polo embroidered the hashish legend. The generalised "political killer" sense is English, not Arabic.
- Arrived
- 1530s
From Arabic
Science, trade, and the Mediterranean transit of Andalusian scholarship gave English its Arabic stratum — especially in maths, chemistry, and commerce. Many entered through Latin or Italian.
English borrows.
Browse the full loanword atlas or explore another source language.