obtrectation
English edit
Etymology edit
From Middle French obtrectacion and its source, Latin obtrectātiō (“disparagement”), from the participle stem of obtrectāre.
Noun edit
obtrectation (countable and uncountable, plural obtrectations)
- (obsolete) Disparagement, the belittling of someone or something; slander. [16th–18th c.]
- 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed by John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC:, I.2.5.i:
- For as anger, fear, sorrow, obtrectation, emulation, etc. […] cause grievous diseases in the body, so bodily diseases affect the soul by consent.