Assailour

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person who makes a violent or aggressive attack on another
2. Someone who launches an assault or physical onslaught against someone else
3. An attacker who engages in a forceful or violent assault

Etymology: "Assailour" is built on the verb "assail," which came into English from Old French "assaillir," from Latin "assalire." That Latin verb combines "ad," meaning "to," with "salire," meaning "to leap." An assailant was, at root, someone who leaps at another person. The ending is an agent suffix. Old French formed words for doers of actions with "-eor" or "-our," descended from Latin "-ator," so "assailour" means one who assails. English also took the present-participle form of the same French verb, which gave us "assailant." The two words are siblings: one kept the French agent ending, while the other follows the participle pattern. "Assailour" is now archaic and rare, but it survives in older English writing.