President Kennedy was assassinated. John Lennon was murdered. I never saw it written that Rev. King was assassinated, he too was murdered. Sadat was assassinated and Versace was murdered? What factors determine which word is appropriate?
From what I can see, important public figures, killed for political reasons, are assassinated whereas murder refers to the rest of us. Take a look at the following definitions, they have some good distinctions... hope that helped
Definitions of assassination:
- character assassination: an attack intended to ruin someone's reputation
- murder of a public figure by surprise attack
- In its most common use, assassination has come to mean the killing of an important person. An assassin — one who carries out the assassination — is usually motivated by ideological or political reasons. Other motivations may be money in the case of a hitman; opposition to a person's beliefs or belief systems in the case of a fanatic; orders from a government that are often carried about by a subversive agent such as a spy; or loyalty to a competing leader or group.
- of the Coptic prime minister Butrus Ghali by a young Muslim nationalist. One of its repercussions was a new Coptic mistrust of the Muslim Egyptian nationalists. A Coptic Congress met in Asyut in 1911 to voice specifically Coptic political demands, which were rejected by a rival Muslim Congress convened in Heliopolis that year. 6
- The killing of a political leader or other public figure.
- Two Presidents of the United States have been assassinated,—Abraham Lincoln by J Wilkes Booth, and James A. Garfield by Guiteau. The latter was called a crank or half crazy. There has never been any real conspiracy for assassination in this country, on a large scale. Booth had confederates, but represented no secret cabal, like the Russian Nihilists.
Definitions of murder on the Web:
- kill intentionally and with premeditation; "The mafia boss ordered his enemies murdered"
- unlawful premeditated killing of a human being by a human being
- mangle: alter so as to make unrecognizable; "The tourists murdered the French language"
- Murder is both a legal and a moral term, that are not always coincident. It may be legal to kill, but still murder in the moral sense. Opponents of the death penalty argue that it is simply murder by the state. Proponents of limited government argue that moral murder is never legal murder unless and until the government meets the limits and standards required of it, such as due process, proof beyond a reasonable doubt, trial by jury, appellate review, etc.
- Murder! a 1930 film directed by Alfred Hitchcock based on a novel and play called Enter Sir John by Clemence Dane and Helen Simpson. The film stars Herbert Marshall, Nora Baring.
- Murder is the name of a single by British group New Order. Released on the Factory Benelux imprint in 1984, it is an instrumental piece, but also contains samples from films such as and Caligula. The b-side is an instrumental version of the previous single by the group, "Thieves Like Us". The sleeve art is a "night-time" version of the sleeve art from the previous single. Both tracks are available on 1987's compilation, Substance.
- The unlawful killing of one human by another, especially with premeditated malice. 2. Slang. Something that is very uncomfortable, difficult, or hazardous: The rush hour traffic is murder. 3. The collective noun for crows.
- The willful (nonnegligent) killing of one human being by another.