murderer

[mur-der-er]

See more synonyms for murderer on Thesaurus.com

noun

a person who commits murder.

Idioms

murderers' row,
1. the row of cells in a prison where murderers and other violent or hard-core criminals are held.See also death row.
2. Baseball.a succession of heavy hitters scheduled to bat one after the other.
3. any group of notorious or important people: a murderers' row of talent; a murderers' row of philosophers.

Origin of murderer

1300–50; Middle English mortherer, mord(e)rer; see murder, -er¹

Related formsself-mur·der·er, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for murderer

executioner, criminal, soldier, assassin, perpetrator, homicide, killer, butcher, slayer, cutthroat, enforcer, hit-and-run

Examples from the Web for murderer

Contemporary Examples of murderer

Murderer, lunatic, and defamer of Islam will certainly be listed in his obituaries.
Osama bin Laden Died a Fool and Has No Legacy
Dana Vachon
May 6, 2011
“Murderer,” after failing to prevent the massacres of Lebanese civilians at the Sabra and Shatila camps in 1982.
Ariel Sharon's Twilight Zone
Lynn Sherr
October 19, 2009

Historical Examples of murderer

For beneath the suave smile of the Duellist they read the intent of the Murderer.
Wisdom, Wit, and Pathos of Ouida
Ouida
One evening the student arrived back at Stephen the Murderer's.
The Folk-Tales of the Magyars
Various
When they arrived, the pope cried out, "Stephen the Murderer, where are you?"
The Folk-Tales of the Magyars
Various
My hair stands on end, and a terrible voice cries to me, 'Murderer!
The Knight of Malta
Eugene Sue
She made no answer to him, nor did she speak at all except one word, and that word "Murderer."
Swallow
H. Rider Haggard

Word Origin and History for murderer

mid-14c., alteration of murtherer (c.1300), agent noun from murder (v.); in part from Old French mordrere, from Medieval Latin murdrarius, from Germanic. Old English words for this included morðorcwalu, morðorslaga, morðorwyrhta, literally "murder-wright." The original murderer's row was in New York City's Tombs prison; figurative use in baseball dates to 1858, though the quintessential one was the 1927 New York Yankees. Fem. form murderess attested from late 14c. Murderee (1920) never caught on.