murder (English)

Where does "murder" come from?

The English noun murder descends from Middle English forms like murthre, which trace back to Old English terms such as 'morþor' meaning secret slaying or unlawful killing[1]. These Old English and related Germanic forms spring from Proto-Germanic '*murþrą' and ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root '*mer-' meaning to die[1][3]. The appearance of the letter d in the Middle English word may have been influenced by Anglo-Norman and Old French 'murdre', alongside Medieval Latin 'murdrum' and Frankish '*morþr', though this shift could also be an internal development[1].

Open questions

• The influence of Anglo-Norman and Old French murdre on the development of the d in the Middle English form is considered alongside the possibility of purely internal development. [1]

Full etymology tree

• murder (English), 'The crime of killing a person unlawfully, especially with predetermination.'
  • derived murder (Middle English)
    • derived morþor (Old English), 'murder'
      • inherited *morþr (Proto-West Germanic), 'murder'
        • derived *murþrą (Proto-Germanic), 'murder'
          • derived *mr̥tro- (Proto-Indo-European)
            • derived *mer- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to die'
    • derived myrþra (Old English), 'homicide, murder'
      • inherited *murþrijō (Proto-West Germanic)
        • derived *murþrą (Proto-Germanic), 'murder'
          • derived *mr̥tro- (Proto-Indo-European)
            • derived *mer- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to die'
    • influenced by murdre (Anglo-Norman)
      • derived murdrum (Latin), 'murder'
        • derived *morþr (Frankish)

Ancestors

• *mer- (Proto-Indo-European)
• morþor (Old English)
• *morþr (Proto-West Germanic)
• *murþrą (Proto-Germanic)

Cognates and doublets

• murdrum (English)
• 𐌼𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌸𐍂 (Gothic)
• murdrum (Latin)
• myrþra (Old English)
• myrþrian (Old English)
• mord (Old High German)
• morð (Old Norse)

Descendants and derived words

• antimurder (English)
• archmurderer (English)
• axe murder (English)
• axe-murder (English)
• axe murderer (English)
• axe-murderer (English)
• blue murder (English)
• capital murder (English)
• countermurder (English)
• cry blue murder (English)
• depraved-heart murder (English)
• depraved-indifference murder (English)

Sources

1. murder (English) - Wiktionary
2. morþor (Old English) - Wiktionary
3. murþrą (Proto-Germanic) - Wiktionary
4. morþr (Proto-West Germanic) - Wiktionary
5. myrþra (Old English) - Wiktionary
6. murdrum (Latin) - Wiktionary

Updated September 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris