I was playing Assassins Creed 2 earlier (yanking guards off of buildings and dumping 15 corpses in a hay wagon) when I started thinking about Hitmen and Assassins

For the most part, the two terms are synonymous, and there are people who will give different meanings to them, but there actually is a difference.

A hitman is more of a spur of a moment thing. the hitman's job is simply to kill the target, regardless of any other consequences. For example, if someone in a crime family wants someone else dead, they may go to a lesser member of the family tree and tell them to do the hit in return for favors, respect, or money. this Hitman acts as a surrogate of the person placing the hit, because the one who wants the other person dead knows that they will definitely be caught and may do prison time for the offense.

Further, the hitman is also very direct and blunt in their job and recruitment. Using the example above, if the same crime family member had a vendetta against someone, they may just walk into a bar and shout out "Anyone who kills X gets this much money."

A "Hit squad" is a group of people who work together and use their numbers and combined arms to simply take out their target as fast and directly as possible. Think of this like a crew of gunmen in a car who driveby and shoot up a sidewalk to kill a target.

And, while a hitman may be a spur of a moment thing, there is usually an association between the hitman and his employer, like a member of a crime syndicate who is known to be the group's hitman. It may seem like they are an assassin, but their association with a group and thus their status among them may make them stand out in their occupation.

Now, an assassin on the other hand is very different because, simply, they are more professional in their job. In the simplest context, think of an assassin as a surgeon's scalpel to the Hitman's hammer. Unlike the hitman, the Assassin is thinking long term with their life, and thus they are much more cautious. they want to be as inconspicuous and quiet as possible with their job. They may be more expensive, but the assassin will get the job done as expertly as possible.

Unlike the hitman who will shoot and leave a ton of damage and evidence behind, the assassin maintains as low of a profile as possible and ensure the death of their target in a way that they can be sure that the job is done.

Of course, not everything goes as according to play as they would hope, but the assassin does not intend to have his/ her work be linked back to their employer or them. often, their ideals and beliefs are separate from their employer's, all they are doing it for is the money. While there are many assassins who do have allegiances, the difference between this and a hitman is that they are often NOT doing something that can easily be traced back to their employer.

So, in a way:

Agent 47 is more of an assassin than

The Assassins

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Well, if you'll remember, Assassin's more then anything want to send a message. They target high profile individuals, then killing them in front of dozens, disappear into the crowd. What they do is more demoralizing then what 47 does