lese majesty
[lez, leez]
|
noun
Law.
- a crime, especially high treason, committed against the sovereign power.
- an offense that violates the dignity of a ruler.
an attack on any custom, institution, belief, etc., held sacred or revered by numbers of people: Her speech against Mother's Day was criticized as lese majesty.
Also lèse majesty, lèse maj·es·té [lez mah-juh-stey; lez maj-uh-stee, leez] /ˈlɛz ˌmɑ dʒəˈsteɪ; ˈlɛz ˈmædʒ ə sti, ˈliz/.
Origin of lese majesty
1530–40; < French lèse-majesté, after Latin (crīmen) laesae mājestātis (the crime) of injured majesty
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Related Words for lese-majesty
boldness, coarseness, contempt, discourtesy, dishonor, flippancy, hardihood, impertinence, impiety, impudence, incivility, insolence, irreverence, sacrilege, impolitenessExamples from the Web for lese-majesty
Historical Examples of lese-majesty
They have conquered you already, as they boast, for the crime of lese-majesty has placed you at their mercy.
The Rise of the Dutch Republic, Volume III.(of III) 1574-84John Lothrop Motley
Got to have a finger in some political pie, and political pies in Russia before the war were lese-majesty.
The Drums Of JeopardyHarold MacGrath
How could they, when they saw in the temper of the people too plain proofs that their lese-majesty had borne evil fruit?
The Expositor's Bible:The Book of NumbersRobert A. Watson
lese-majesty
noun
Word Origin for lese-majesty
C16: from French lèse majesté, from Latin laesa mājestās wounded majesty
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
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper