murder
/ˈmɝ.dɚ/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.86 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
An act of killing a person unlawfully, especially with predetermination.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "Throwing that punch was a murder whether you meant for it to happen or not."
- "There have been ten unsolved murders this year alone."
- "The case was that of a murder. It had an element of mystery about it, however, which was puzzling the authorities. A turban and loincloth soaked in blood had been found; also a staff."
- "One of the most urgent tasks facing me after I assumed office was to assure the country that everything possible was being done to uncover the truth surrounding the assassination of President Kennedy. John Kennedy had been murdered, and a troubled, puzzled, and outraged nation wanted to know the facts."
- "Life is cheap, never forget it. Corporations make marketing decisions by weighing the cost of being sued for your death against the cost of making the product safer. Your life is a factor in cost-effectiveness. So when you talk about murder, don't confine your discussion to individuals."
- "A murder? Well, thank goodness for that!"
Etymology
From Middle English murder, murdre, mourdre, alteration of earlier murthre (“murder”) (see murther), from Old English morþor (“secret slaying, unlawful killing”) and Old English myrþra (“murder, homicide”), both from Proto-West Germanic *morþr, from Proto-Germanic *murþrą (“death, killing, murder”), from Proto-Indo-European *mr̥tro- (“killing”), from Proto-Indo-European *mer-, *mor-, *mr̥- (“to die”). Akin to Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌸𐍂 (maurþr, “murder”), Old High German mord (“murder”), Old Norse morð (“murder”), Old English myrþrian (“to murder”) and morþ. The -d- in the Middle English form may have been influenced in part by Anglo-Norman murdre, from Old French murdre, from Medieval Latin murdrum (whence the English doublet of murdrum), from Frankish *morþr, *murþr (“murder”), from the same Germanic root, though this may also have been wholly the result of internal development (compare burden, from burthen and spider, from spiþra). (crows): Attested at least since 1475.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈmɝ.dɚ/
- British English: /ˈmɜːdə(ɹ)/