Assassinate, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Assassinated; p. pr. & vb. n. Assassinating.]
Etymology: [LL. assassinatus, p. p. of assassinare.]
1. To kill by surprise or secret assault; to murder by treacherous violence. Help, neighbors, my house is broken open by force, and I am ravished, and like to be assassinated. Dryden.
2. To assail with murderous intent; hence, by extended meaning, to maltreat exceedingly. [Archaic] Your rhymes assassinate our fame. Dryden. Such usage as your honorable lords Afford me, assassinated and betrayed. Milton.
Syn. -- To kill; murder; slay. See Kill.
1 other Webster entry under this spelling
Assassinate, n.
1. An assassination, murder, or murderous assault. [Obs.] If I had made an assassinate upon your father. B. Jonson.
2. An assassin. [Obs.] Dryden.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for assassinate; he lists it under kill.
Where he writes about it:
Assassinate, execute, murder, apply only to the taking of human life; to murder is to kill with premeditation and malicious intent; to execute is to kill in fulfilment of a legal sentence; to assassinate is to kill by assault; this word is chiefly applied to the killing of public or eminent persons through alleged political motives, whether secretly or openly. — from kill