Etymology
1. O.E.
morðor (pl.
morþras) "secret killing of a person, unlawful killing," also "mortal sin, crime, punishment, torment, misery," from P.Gmc.
*murthran (cf. Goth
maurþr, O.Fris.
morth, O.N.
morð, M.Du.
moort, Ger.
Mord "murder"). from PIE
*mrtro-, from base
*mor-/*mr- "to die" (cf. L.
mors, gen.
mortis "death;"
mori "to die;" see mortal). The spelling with
-d- probably reflects influence of Anglo-Fr.
murdre, from O.Fr.
mordre, from M.L.
murdrum, from the W.Gmc. root. Viking custom, typical of Gmc., distinguished
morð (O.N.) "secret slaughter," from
vig (O.N.) "slaying." The former involved concealment, or slaying a man by night or when asleep, and was a heinous crime. The latter was not a disgrace, if the killer acknowledged his deed, but he was subject to vengeance or demand for compensation.
"Mordre wol out that se we day by day." [Chaucer, "Nun's Priest's Tale," c.1386]
Weakened sense of "very unpleasant situation" is from 1878. The verb is O.E.
myrðrian, from P.Gmc.
*murthjan. The original
murderer's row was in New York City's Tombs prison; figurative use in baseball dates to 1858, though the quintessential one was the 1927 New York Yankees.
2. From Middle English murder, murdre, mourdre, alteration of earlier murthre (“murder”) (see murther), from Old English morþor (“secret slaying, unlawful killing”) and Old English myrþra (“murder, homicide”), both from Proto-West Germanic *morþr, from Proto-Germanic *murþrą (“death, killing, murder”), from Proto-Indo-European *mr̥tro- (“killing”), from Proto-Indo-European *mer-, *mor-, *mr̥- (“to die”). Akin to Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌸𐍂 (maurþr, “murder”), Old High German mord (“murder”), Old Norse morð (“murder”), Old English myrþrian (“to murder”) and morþ.
3. The -d- in the Middle English form may have been influenced in part by Anglo-Norman murdre, from Old French murdre, from Medieval Latin murdrum (whence the English doublet of murdrum), from Frankish *morþr, *murþr (“murder”), from the same Germanic root, though this may also have been wholly the result of internal development (compare burden, from burthen and spider, from spiþra).
4. (crows): Attested at least since 1475. See: Old English '
myrþrian'.
Verbs referencing "murder"
Cebuano murder, Dari
مردن, Ukrainian
мордувати.