What's the difference between "to slay", "to murder" and "to assassinate"?

Question

Any serious answer will be appreciated

Answer 1

Slay comes from the Anglo-Saxon word slean, meaning to kill. It is morally neutral, as it could apply to killing someone in battle or in a duel.

Murder is an act of unlawful killing. It is a crime committed "with malice aforethought" and deliberately planned. It is punishable by law.

Assassination has political overtones. The victim is someone with whose views the assassin does not agree and he kills him not with malicious intent, but to rid the world of someone whom he perceives as a threat to its wellbeing. In other words, he does not so much kill the person as what the person represents.

Answer 2

I can't add too much to any of these good answers....Bottom Line..All three words bring about DEATH...
1. Slay Animals
2. Murder People
3. Assassinate Political Figures

Answer 3

The difference is who has this done to them. You slay dragons, vampires, or anything considered evil with the use of a blade or sharp object. You assassinate people in power. You murder random people. Also, assassinations are done without the victim being able to see his assassin.

Answer 4

They all amount to pretty much the same thing in the end, but I think only the "reasoning" in the killers mind differs.

To slay something usually involves some sort of conflict between good and evil, in my mind. Although ultimately "good" and "evil" are subjective to each person, that can be argued in another question. What is important, is that the person believing what they are doing is ultimately a good thing, even if it involves the death of something else. Slaying fantastic creatures(ogres, goblins, dragons), or even just enemies who are on the opposing(usually referred to the slayer as "bad" or "evil") side is seen as being ultimately a good thing. Usually, there is some machiavellian reasoning involved, as the end result(peace, or order) justifies the means(lots of killing of other people, creatures) of obtaining such a state.

To murder - to me, implies killing with definite intent, regardless of the consequences. Manslaughter implies negligence, or death by accident, but murder seems to imply that the person definitely and deliberately took actions to end the life another. Even if at the time they were under emotional stresses, and possibly not thinking clearly, if you aim a gun at someone, or stab someone with a knife, the consequences seem pretty obvious. Even if you can rationalize it is self defence, or you did what you had to in order to end a threat to yourself, the end result is that the only way to stop the opposing person from harming you in your mind was to end their life.

Assassinate. This is killing for pure profit in my mind. The assassin may or may not know, may or may not care about the target in question, but kills them because they are paid to do just that. It's usually impersonal, and without any malice by the killer. It's a job to them, nothing more.

Answer 5

1.) I am slaying or slaughtering some chicken
for a good meal;

2.) I murder my wife or my mother for a better life;

3.) I am killing the (German) president or Fuhrer
in an assassination.... for the future of the whole nation
AND the luck of the World...

Aaron Moses.

Answer 6

I assume you don't want the dictionary definitions. "To slay" implies in ending a life that you are in conflict with, it doesn't have to be a human (you can slay a dragon, or bear, for example). "To murder" is to intentionally end the life of another human (it doesn't imply motive, you can murder in cold blood, or in a murderous rage). "To assassinate" is to murder a specific person by surprise, or subterfuge, usually for political reasons (it is a premeditated crime against another human being).

Answer 7

Slaying usually refers to a killing during a battle when killing is permitted. Murder is an unlawfull killing. Assasination is generally used to describe the killing of a political figure, whether that be a result of espionage or a lone gunman on the grassy knoll.

Obviously these aren't steadfast rules, just the most commonly accepted.

Answer 8

To slay is simply to kill.
To murder is to intentionally kill a human being unlawfully, especially with premeditated malice.
To assassinate is to murder (a prominent person) by surprise attack, as for political reasons.

Answer 9

To slay means to kill with an object.
To murder is the action a person has taken to end the life of something that is living.
To assassinate means to kill something without them knowing.

Answer 10

slay is to kill,murder is to unlawful intentional homicide and assassinate is to murdering,all with almost the same meaning yet used differently according to the main idea expressed in a sentence.