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Aspersion - 4 dictionary results

as⋅per⋅sion

  [uh-spur-zhuhn, -shuhn]
Use Aspersion in a Sentence
–noun
1. a damaging or derogatory remark or criticism; slander: casting aspersions on a campaign rival.
2. the act of slandering; vilification; defamation; calumniation; derogation: Such vehement aspersions cannot be ignored.
3. the act of sprinkling, as in baptism.
4. Archaic. a shower or spray.
Origin:
1545–55; (< MF) < L aspersiōn- (s. of aspersiō) a sprinkling. See asperse, -ion

Synonyms:
1. censure, reproach.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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as·per·sion   (ə-spûr'zhən, -shən)   
n.  
    1. An unfavorable or damaging remark; slander: Don't cast aspersions on my honesty.
    2. The act of defaming or slandering.
  2. A sprinkling, especially with holy water.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Aspersion

As*per"sion\, n. [L. aspersio, fr. aspergere: cf. F. aspersion.]

1. A sprinkling, as with water or dust, in a literal sense.

Behold an immersion, not and aspersion. --Jer. Taylor.

2. The spreading of calumniations reports or charges which tarnish reputation, like the bespattering of a body with foul water; calumny.

Every candid critic would be ashamed to cast wholesale aspersions on the entire body of professional teachers. --Grote.

Who would by base aspersions blot thy virtue. --Dryden.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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aspersion 
1448 (implied in verb asperse), from L. aspersionem (nom. aspersio), from pp. stem of aspergere "to sprinkle on," from ad- "to" + spargere "sprinkle, strew" (see sparse). In theology, the shedding of Christ's blood. Modern sense of "bespattering with slander" first attested 1596.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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