calumny
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /kəˈlʌmni/
Forms: form: calumnies
form: calumnying
form: calumnied
form: calumnied
Etymology: From Late Middle English calumnīe (“false accusation, slander; (law) objection raised in bad faith”), borrowed from Old French calomnie (“slander, calumny”) (modern French calomnie), or directly from its etymon Latin calumnia (“false statement, misrepresentation; false accusation, malicious charge”), perhaps related to calvor (“to deceive”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱelh₁- or *ḱh₂l-. The English word is a doublet of challenge.
The verb is derived from French calomnier (“to slander”), from Late Latin calumniāre, from Latin calumpniārī, calumniārī (“to blame unjustly, misrepresent, calumniate; (law) to accuse falsely, bring false information against”), from calumnia (see above) + -or.
Senses: examples: text: His [Dominieus Dietrich's] memory has been basely calumnied by many German historians.
ref: 1849, Wolfgang Menzel, “The Great Elector”, in Mrs. George Horrocks, transl., The History of Germany, from the Earliest Period to the Present Time. … Translated from the Fourth German Edition. … In Three Volumes, volume II, London: Henry G[eorge] Bohn, […], →OCLC, part XX (The Age of Louis the Fourteenth), page 492:
text: However, the Priests of the idols, not content with persecuting Christians, began to calumny them; the Philosophers, finding a Religion that preached humility unrewarding, joined their Priests. Ridicule and insults were showered […] on the new Sect from all sides.
ref: 1997, [Jean-Jacques] Rousseau, “[Discourse on the Sciences and Arts or First Discourse, part II.] Observations [to Stanislas, King of Poland]”, in Victor Gourevitch, editor, The Discourses and Other Earl Political Writings (Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, published 2003, →ISBN, paragraph 39, page 41:
text: It is this coalition that seeks to tear the Republic apart, by ceaselessly calumnying the people of Paris and all the representatives whom it has honoured with its trust …
ref: 1999, Geoffrey Cubitt, “Robespierre and Conspiracy Theories”, in Colin Haydon, William Doyle, editors, Robespierre, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, published 2006, →ISBN, page 87:
text: He rails, he piles on the abuse, he calumnies without any sense of decency or restraint, and his gloomy character makes him see everything as black.
ref: 2008, Paul-Henri Thiry; Baron d’Holbach, “Bergier’s Refutation”, in David Holohan, transl., Christianity Unveiled (Rescued from Obscurity Series), Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey: Hodgson Press, →ISBN, § 3, page 176:
synonyms: word: assassinate
word: asperse
word: backbite
word: badmouth
word: belibel
word: belittle
word: besmirch
word: blaze
word: blemish
word: blot
word: calumniate
word: calumny
word: cloud
word: cut down
word: defame
word: demonize
word: denigrate
word: derogate
word: detract
word: discredit
word: disgrace
word: disparage
word: diss
word: forgab
word: infamize
word: lampoon
word: libel
word: malign
word: monster
word: reproach
word: revile
word: scandal
word: shit-talk
word: slag
word: slander
word: spatter
word: speak ill of
word: stab
word: talk shit
word: talk shite
word: talk trash
word: torch
word: traduce
word: trash-talk
word: vilify
word: vilipend
word: vituperate
glosses: To make false accusations or levy false charges against a person with the intent to tarnish that person's reputation or standing; to calumniate.