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.
Origin: 1275–1325; Middle English; replacing (by analogy with defame) Middle English diffamacioun < Medieval Latin diffāmātiōn- (stem of diffāmātiō), equivalent to Latin diffāmāt(us) (past participle of diffāmāre;see defame) + -iōn--ion