noun
assassination; assassin; murderer
Refers to the act of killing a person with a blade, or the person who does it. Often used in historical or dramatic contexts, especially for sword-wielding assassins.
彼は幕末の有名な人斬りとして知られている。
He is known as a famous assassin from the end of the Edo period.
その事件は人斬りによるものだと噂された。
It was rumored that the incident was an assassination.
暗殺 is a more formal and general term for assassination, not limited to blade weapons. 人斬り specifically implies killing with a sword or blade, often with a historical or dramatic connotation.
殺人 is the legal/general term for murder or homicide. 人斬り is more specific to killing by cutting and carries a stronger image of a sword-wielding killer.
Compound of 人 (ひと, person) and 斬り (きり, cutting), the nominalized form of 斬る (きる, to cut with a blade). The spelling 斬り emphasizes cutting with a sword or similar weapon.