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As far as I am aware, assassin comes from the Arabic حشاشين (Ḥashshāshīn). Clearly, the concept of murdering someone for either political or religious reasons was not invented by the Ḥashshāshīn. So, prior to the first crusade, what were assassins called in Latin/Greek?
The Oxford dictionary defines assassin as the action of assassinating someone and to assassinate as [To] murder (an important person) for political or religious reasons.
"Assassin" doesn't really mean somebody paid to kill. It rather means somebody who kills a prominent person by surprise attack. (1, 2, 3)
Latin seems to have had a word for this: sicarius. I don't know if ancient Greek did.
This is not exactly the answer in your question but in Greek the word assassin was not used as in western languages. So, although Ασασίνοι exists (it means Assassins of course) the word assassin meaning killer (with a specialized meaning) does not.
There is not any exact corresponding word for Assassin in Greek. The most close word would be δολοφόνος meaning murderer with intent but it's also the most common word for simply murderer. The word φονιάς is the exact word for murderer but it's less common.
So, your question is at half part (the Greek part that is) ill-phrased.
The origins of the Assassins can be traced back to just before the First Crusade, around 1080. There has been much difficulty finding out much information about the origins of the Assassins because most early sources are either written by enemies of the order or based on legends, or both. Most sources dealing with the order's inner working were destroyed with the capture of Alamut, the Assassins' headquarters, by the Mongols in 1256. However, it is possible to trace the beginnings of the cult back to its first Grandmaster, Hassan-i Sabbah (1050s–1124).
Hassani (pronounced Assane) was the first to start this practice. Assassins were a group of people not just a title. Assassins are sometimes (but not always) paid for their work.
It doesn't have to be a special person, an assassin could kill Joe Shmo for cash. There has to be a reason, usually political or religious or even social.
