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MURDER
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MURDER, in law, the unlawful killing of a person with malice aforethought (see HOMICIDE). The O. Eng. mor5or comes ultimately from the Indo-European root mar–, to die, which has also given Lat. moss, death, and all its derivatives in English, French and other Rom. languages; cf, Gr. 3porbs, for Aopr6s, mortal. The O. Eng. form, Latinized as murdrum, murtrum, whence Fr. meurtre, is represented in other Teutonic languages by a cognate form, e.g. Ger. Mord, Du. moord.