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disinformation - 3 dictionary results

dis⋅in⋅for⋅ma⋅tion

  [dis-in-fer-mey-shuhn, dis-in-]
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–noun
false information, as about a country's military strength or plans, publicly announced or planted in the news media, esp. of other countries.
Origin:
1965–70; dis- 1 + information, as trans. of Russ dezinformátsiya < F désinform(er) to misinform + Russ -atsiya ≪ L -ātiō (see -ation )
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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dis·in·for·ma·tion   (dĭs-ĭn'fər-mā'shən)   
n.  
  1. Deliberately misleading information announced publicly or leaked by a government or especially by an intelligence agency in order to influence public opinion or the government in another nation: "He would be the unconscious channel for a piece of disinformation aimed at another country's intelligence service" (Ken Follett).
  2. Dissemination of such misleading information.

[Possibly translation of Russian dezinformatsiya.]
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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disinformation 
1955, from Rus. dezinformatsiya (1949).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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