assailant
/əˈseɪlənt/ noun, adjective
Forms assailants
- noun Someone who attacks or assails another violently, or criminally.
- noun (figuratively, by extension) A hostile critic or opponent.
- adjective Assailing; attacking.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Old French assaillant, from the verb assaillir, from Late Latin assalīre, from Latin ad (“to, towards”) + salīre (“to jump”). Equivalent to assail + -ant.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Assailing; attacking. Milton.
- noun One who, or that which, assails, attacks, or assaults; an assailer.
Etymology [F. assaillant, p. pr. of assaillir.]
Etymology [F. assaillant.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “assailant”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details