calumniate
English
WOTD – 16 February 2007
Etymology
From Latin calumniātus, perfect active participle of calumnior (“I accuse falsely”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /kəˈlʌmni.eɪt/
Audio (US) (file)
Verb
calumniate (third-person singular simple present calumniates, present participle calumniating, simple past and past participle calumniated)
- (transitive) To make hurtful untrue comments about.
- a. 1555, John Hooper, A Brief Treatise respecting Judge Hales
- Hatred unto the truth did always falsely report and calumniate all godly men's doings.
- 1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Romance and Reality. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], OCLC 24531354, page 229:
- I missed her when she was not on the stage, in spite of the absorbing interest of that most calumniated and ill-used person, the Jew. (Speaking of Fanny Kemble as Portia)
- 1905, Robert Louis Stevenson, Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes, chapter 1
- There are adherents of each of the four French parties—Legitimists, Orleanists, Imperialists, and Republicans—in this little mountain-town; and they all hate, loathe, decry, and calumniate each other.
- a. 1555, John Hooper, A Brief Treatise respecting Judge Hales
- (transitive) To levy a false charge against, especially of a vague offense, with the intent to damage someone's reputation or standing.
Synonyms
- (to make hurtful untrue statements): slander
- See also Thesaurus:defame
Related terms
- calumniation
- calumniator
- calumniatory
- calumnious
- calumny
Translations
to make hurtful untrue statements
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Latin
Participle
calumniāte
- vocative masculine singular of calumniātus