Words / B2

MURD-uh-r-uh/ˈmɜːdərə/

A murderer is a person who has committed murder: the accused, not “the murderer”, before a verdict. Killer is wider; assassin is political. Name the legal status in the source. Noun: murder (already elsewhere). Mix-up: murmur is a quiet sound; martyr dies for a cause. Do not write murderer for a character who has not killed in the text.

Meaning

A person who has committed murder.

Examples

• “The source names the accused, not “the murderer”, before the verdict.”
• “The tragedy’s murderer is named in Act 5, which is the literary sense.”

Good to know

a murderer; convicted murderer. Crime noun: murder. Wider: killer. Trap: murmur / martyr. Law, news, and literature. Unlawful killer, not a whisper or a martyr.

New