murder Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun unlawful premeditated killing of a human being by a human being
    slaying; execution.
  2. verb kill intentionally and with premeditation
    off; slay; dispatch; remove; hit; bump off; polish off.
    • The mafia boss ordered his enemies murdered
  3. verb alter so as to make unrecognizable
    mutilate; mangle.
    • The tourists murdered the French language

WordNet

Mur"der noun
Etymology
OE. morder, morther, AS. mor&edh;or, fr. mor&edh; murder; akin to D. moord, OS. mor&edh;, G., Dan., & Sw. mord, Icel. mor&edh;, Goth. maúrþr, OSlav. mreti to die, Lith. mirti, W. marw dead, L. mors, mortis, death, mori, moriri, to die, Gr. broto`s (for mroto`s) mortal, 'a`mbrotos immortal, Skr. m&rsdot; to die, m&rsdot;ta death. *105. Cf. Amaranth, Ambrosia, Mortal.
Definitions
  1. The offense of killing a human being with malice prepense or aforethought, express or implied; intentional and unlawful homicide. "Mordre will out." Chaucer.
    The killing of their children had, in the account of God, the guilt of murder, as the offering them to idols had the guilt of idolatry. Locke.
    Slaughter grows murder when it goes too far. Dryden.
    ✍ Murder in the second degree, in most jurisdictions, is a malicious homicide committed without a specific intention to take life. Wharton.
Mur"der transitive verb
Etymology
OE. mortheren, murtheren, AS. myrrian; akin to OHG. murdiren, Goth. maúrrjan. See Murder, n.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Murdered ; present participle & verbal noun Murdering
Definitions
  1. To kill with premediated malice; to kill (a human being) willfully, deliberately, and unlawfully. See Murder, n.
  2. To destroy; to put an end to.
    [Canst thou] murder thy breath in middle of a word? Shak.
  3. To mutilate, spoil, or deform, as if with malice or cruelty; to mangle; as, to murder the king's English. Syn. -- To kill; assassinate; slay. See Kill.

Webster 1913