Word of the Day Archive
Monday March 18, 2002
aspersion \uh-SPUR-zhuhn; -shuhn\ , noun:
1. A damaging or derogatory remark; slander.
2. The act of defaming or slandering.
3. A sprinkling with water, especially in religious ceremonies.
Orley had once been forced to resign from a local men's club for casting aspersions on the character of another member's wife.
-- Thomas A. Underwood, Allen Tate: Orphan of the South
Its meetings were fiercely argumentative; members seemed to love nothing better than to cast aspersions on each other's intellect and class loyalty.
-- Glenn Frankel, Rivonia's Children
Aspersion is from Latin aspersio, from aspergere, from ad- + spargere, "to scatter, to sprinkle, to strew."
Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for aspersion
