murder
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈmɜːdə(ɹ)/
ipa: /ˈmɝ.dɚ/
rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)də(ɹ)
Forms: form: murders
form: murther
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).
(crows): Attested at least since 1475.
Senses: examples: text: The defendant was charged with murder.
text: One of the most urgent tasks facing me after 1 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.
ref: 1971, Lyndon Johnson, “"I feel like I have already been here a year"”, in The Vantage Point, Holt, Reinhart & Winston, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 25:
text: Reggie Clemons has one last chance to save his life. After 19 years on death row in Missouri for the murder of two young women, he has been granted a final opportunity to persuade a judge that he should be spared execution by lethal injection.
ref: 2012 August 21, Ed Pilkington, “Death penalty on trial: should Reggie Clemons live or die?”, in The Guardian:
text: Whether modern, industrial man is less or more warlike than his hunter-gatherer ancestors is impossible to determine.[…]One thing that is true, though, is that murder rates have fallen over the centuries, as policing has spread and the routine carrying of weapons has diminished. Modern society may not have done anything about war. But peace is a lot more peaceful.
ref: 2013 July 20, “Old soldiers?”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:
glosses: The crime of killing a person unlawfully, especially with predetermination.
topics: law
glosses: The crime of killing a person unlawfully, especially with predetermination.
The act of committing or abetting a crime that results in the killing of a person, regardless of intent, and even if the committer or abettor is not the one who killed the person: felony murder.
raw_tags: in jurisdictions which use the felony murder rule
examples: text: There have been ten unsolved murders this year alone.
text: 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.
ref: 1927, F. E. Penny, chapter 4, in Pulling the Strings:
text: It may be guessed, indeed, that this was the original form of the story, the fairy being the addition of those who considered Jack's thefts from (and murder of) the giant to be scarcely justified without her.
ref: 1984, Humphrey Carpenter, Mari Prichard, The Oxford companion to children's literature, page 275:
text: 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.
ref: 1997, George Carlin, Brain Droppings, New York: Hyperion Books, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 177:
text: Captain Sulu, who served under the legendary James T. Kirk for many years, disobeys Starfleet orders in order to try and help Kirk and another old shipmate, Dr. McCoy, who have been imprisoned for the murder of the Klingon chancellor.
ref: 2003, Paul Ruditis, Star Trek Voyager: Companion, →ISBN, page 131:
text: Dr. Herrera also knew Hemingway had held Batista's army personally responsible for the brutal murders of his dogs, Blackie (Black Dog) and Machakos.
ref: 2011, Carlene Brennen, Hemingway's Cats, →ISBN, page 161:
glosses: The act of killing a person (or sometimes another being) unlawfully, especially with predetermination
examples: text: This headache is murder.
glosses: Something terrible to endure.
raw_tags: used as a predicative noun
examples: text: For his part, Melchior was growing unhappy with the murder of crows. They had been patiently following Arthur for hours, trailing him from town to country.
ref: 1995, Deepak Chopra, The Return of Merlin: A Novel, →ISBN, page 108:
text: Without the murder of crows roosting in its branches, Nevermore Tree looked as bare as a skeleton.
ref: 2001, Daniel Handler, The Vile Village, →ISBN, page 76:
glosses: A group of crows; the collective noun for crows.
examples: text: Right quick another cat spoke up real loud, saying, “That’s murder man, really murder,” and his eyes were signifying too.
ref: 1946, Milton “Mezz” Mezzrow, Bernard Wolfe, “Tell a Green Man Something”, in Really the Blues, New York, N.Y.: Random House, book 3 (1928–1935: The Big Apple), page 230:
text: Altaira Morbius: [swimming in a pool] Come on in.
Commander Adams: I didn't bring my bathing suit.
Altaira Morbius: What's a bathing suit?
Commander Adams: [quickly turning his back] Oh, murder!
ref: 1956, Cyril Hume, Forbidden Planet:
glosses: Something remarkable or impressive.
glosses: a murderer
Synonyms: sense: act of deliberate killing
word: homicide
sense: act of deliberate killing
word: manslaughter
sense: act of deliberate killing
word: assassination
sense: group of crows
word: flock
Derived terms: antimurder
archmurderer
axe-murder
axe murder
axe murderer
axe-murderer
blue murder
capital murder
countermurder
cry blue murder
depraved-heart murder
depraved-indifference murder
felony murder
felony murder rule
first-degree murder
gentle murder paradox
get away with murder
half murder
lust murder
malice murder
mass murder
mass murderer
megamurder
multimurder
murdelize
murderabilia
murderable
Murderapolis
murderate
murderball
murder ballad
murderbird
murder board
murder book
murderbot
murder by suicide
murdercide
murdered
murderee
murderer
murderess
murderest
murdereth
murder-for-hire
murder hobo
murderhobo
murder-hobo
murder-hole
murder hole
murderhood
murder hornet
Murder Husbands
murderin'
murdering
Murderino
murder in the dark
murder in the first degree
murder in the second degree
murderish
murderize
murderless
murder log
murderment
murder mitten
murdermonger
murder mystery
murder noodle
murder one
murder one's darlings
murderous
murderously
murderousness
murder rap
murder simulator
murdersome
murder-suicide
murder weapon
murder will out
murdery
murdress
muti murder
nonmurder
nonmurderer
postmurder
premurder
scream bloody murder
scream blue murder
second-degree murder
self-murder
self-murderer
social murder
third-degree murder
unmurdered
unmurderous
wink murder