defame
EnglishEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Middle English defamen, from Anglo-Norman defamer (verb), defame (noun), and its source, Latin diffāmō, from fāma (“fame; rumour; reputation”).
PronunciationEdit
VerbEdit
defame (third-person singular simple present defames, present participle defaming, simple past and past participle defamed)
- To disgrace; to bring into disrepute. [from 4th c.]
- 1697, Virgil, “The Tenth Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], OCLC 403869432:
- My guilt thy growing virtues did defame; / My blackness blotted thy unblemish'd name.
- (now chiefly historical) To charge; to accuse (someone) of an offence. [from 14th c.]
- Rebecca is […] defamed of sorcery practised on the person of a noble knight.
- To harm or diminish the reputation of; to disparage. [from 4th c.]
- to defame somebody
SynonymsEdit
- See also Thesaurus:defame
Related termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
to harm, to diminish the reputation of
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to disgrace, bring into disrepute
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
NounEdit
defame (countable and uncountable, plural defames)
- (now rare, archaic) Disgrace, dishonour. [from 14th c.]
- 1613, John Marston, William Barksted, The Insatiate Countess, I.1:
- And all the sparks that may bring unto flame / Hate betwixt man and wife, or breed defame.
- 1613, John Marston, William Barksted, The Insatiate Countess, I.1:
- (now rare or nonstandard) Defamation; slander, libel. [from 15th c.]
Further readingEdit
- “defame” in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- “defame” in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.