Calumniate - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

ca·lum·ni·ate

Audio Help [kuh-luhm-nee-eyt] Pronunciation Key

–verb (used with object), -at·ed, -at·ing.

to make false and malicious statements about; slander.

[Origin: 1545–55; < L calumniātus (ptp. of calumniārī to accuse falsely, trick), equiv. to calumni(a) calumny + -ātus -ate¹

]

—Related forms

ca·lum·ni·a·tion, noun

ca·lum·ni·a·tor, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Calumniate

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

ca·lum·ni·ate Audio Help (kə-lŭm'nē-āt') Pronunciation Key
tr.v. ca·lum·ni·at·ed, ca·lum·ni·at·ing, ca·lum·ni·ates
To make maliciously or knowingly false statements about. See Synonyms at malign.

[Latin calumniārī, calumniāt-, from calumnia, calumny; see calumny.]

ca·lum'ni·a'tion n., ca·lum'ni·a'tor n.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

calumniate
verb
charge falsely or with malicious intent; attack the good name and reputation of someone; "The journalists have defamed me!" "The article in the paper sullied my reputation" [syn: defame]

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Calumniate

As*perse"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Aspersed; p. pr. & vb. n. Aspersing.] [L. aspersus, p. p. of aspergere to scatter, sprinkle; ad + spargere to strew. See Sparse.]

1. To sprinkle, as water or dust, upon anybody or anything, or to besprinkle any one with a liquid or with dust. --Heywood.

2. To bespatter with foul reports or false and injurious charges; to tarnish in point of reputation or good name; to slander or calumniate; as, to asperse a poet or his writings; to asperse a man's character.

With blackest crimes aspersed. --Cowper.

Syn: To slander; defame; detract from; calumniate; vilify.

Usage: To Asperse, Defame, Slander, Calumniate. These words have in common the idea of falsely assailing the character of another. To asperse is figuratively to cast upon a character hitherto unsullied the imputation of blemishes or faults which render it offensive or loathsome. To defame is to detract from a man's honor and reputation by charges calculated to load him with infamy. Slander (etymologically the same as scandal) and calumniate, from the Latin, have in common the sense of circulating reports to a man's injury from unworthy or malicious motives. Men asperse their neighbors by malignant insinuations; they defame by advancing charges to blacken or sully their fair fame; they slander or calumniate by spreading injurious reports which are false, or by magnifying slight faults into serious errors or crimes.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Calumniate

Ca*lum"ni*ate\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Calumniated; p. pr. & vb. n. calumniating.] [L. calumniatus, p. p. of calumniari. See Calumny, and cf. Challenge, v. t.] To accuse falsely and maliciously of a crime or offense, or of something disreputable; to slander; to libel.

Hatred unto the truth did always falsely report and calumniate all godly men's doings. --Strype.

Syn. -- To asperse; slander; defame; vilify; traduce; belie; bespatter; blacken; libel. See Asperse.

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