Which is a better word for "killer": matador or asesino?

Question

Are these words interchangeable? In English, we have slayer, killer, murderer, assasin, etc. "Asesino" sounds like "assasin" to me. Algos pensamientos?

Muchas gracias mis amigos!

I always hear asesino in movies and tv for killer or murderer, i dont think ive ever heard matador mentioned. im not a native speaker though.. - cheeseisyummy, Jun 9, 2010

Answer 1

I really only ever hear asesino for murderer. If you said matador, I would think of one of those fellows in the funny outfits who like to go round stabbing bulls with swords.

Gracias! From all the answers it's pretty clear, matador is only for the bullfighting thing. - amykay, Jun 9, 2010

De nada. :) - MacFadden, Jun 9, 2010

Answer 2

"Asesino" - This word can mean all of your English examples (Slayer, Killer, Murderer) When you double click on the word itself, it says the word means Murderer

I really hope this helps you in some way

Answer 3

asesino y homicida, matador is for bull fighters.

Answer 4

Thank you all for your answers! I guess what got me thinking about it was this morning I was looking at the label for weed killer and under it in Spanish it said, "Mata..." weeds and grass. So I thought if "mata" is kills, then matador would be "killer", I had never realized that the "matador" in a bullfight was being called a "killer", but since that's the point of the bullfight, I suppose the word makes sense. Am I totally off on that?

No, you're right. Matar means to kill. A matador is a killer, but almost always in reference to bulls. Someone who kills people is an asesino, usually. - KevinB, Jun 9, 2010

Answer 5

You can add "matarife" to your collection if you aren't limiting it to people killers. He's a slaughterman in an abattoir.

Late news. There's also "verdugo" = "executioner"

Otra palabra que no sabía. - margaretbl, Jun 9, 2010

It came up about a month ago Margaret. Naturally I was looking it up in "Sharpe's Honour" (book) while someone else pipped me at the post. - geofc, Jun 9, 2010

Answer 6

asesinar is the verb for to murder asesinato is the noun murder.

And asesinado is the noun for the murder victim. - KevinB, Jun 9, 2010

Answer 7

The double click feature says "murderer - asesino"

Answer 8

I have a further question related to this subject, in English we assassin and assassinate. Can we conjugate asesino to use it like a verb in a similar fashion?

In English you can say we assasinate or he assisinates but not we assasin I have never ever in over 40 years heard that used in books or films or anyweher for that matter as it is not correct grammer - FELIZ77, Jun 9, 2010

anywhere else I mean - FELIZ77, Jun 9, 2010

This is because assasin is a noun and refers to a person and not a verb so you cannot use it as one - FELIZ77, Jun 9, 2010