defamation
[def-uh-mey-shuh n]
- the act of defaming; false or unjustified injury of the good reputation of another, as by slander or libel; calumny: She sued the magazine for defamation of character.
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Origin of defamation
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for defamation
Contemporary Examples
Among these are obscenity, defamation, fighting words, express incitement to unlawful conduct, and threats.
Does Free Speech Cover Murder Fantasies? The Supreme Court’s Definition of a ‘Threat’Geoffrey R. Stone
December 1, 2014
She later sued Eminem for defamation over the violent song and the case was settled out of court.
Eminem’s Rape Fantasy with Iggy Azalea: The Tired, Juvenile Misogyny Needs to StopMarlow Stern
November 20, 2014
One of the suits against Kelley charged her with defamation for calling Miller an “intimacy stalker” in her LiveJournal page.
One researcher, in defense of the animals, even sued Disney for defamation (PDF) of character.
Mori sued the publisher of the magazine for defamation but dropped the lawsuit in November of 2011.
Historical Examples
But some day he will know what is the meaning of defamation, and if he ever does, he will forgive me.
MenoPlato
For you might come ruin, defamation, and perhaps imprisonment.
The Queen's NecklaceAlexandre Dumas pre
The praise, on the one hand, and the defamation on the other, are equally unmerited.
My dear, he'll have to bring an action for defamation of character, or whatever they call it.
Loyalties (Fifth Series Plays)John Galsworthy
In other words, truth is a defense to an action for defamation.
Commercial LawSamuel Williston, Richard D. Currier, and Richard W. Hill
defamation
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for defamation
n.
c.1300, from Old French diffamacion, Medieval Latin deffamation, from Latin diffamationem (nominative diffamatio), noun of action from past participle stem of diffamare (see defame).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper