defame

de·fame

transitive verb

-·famed′, -·fam′ing

to attack or injure the reputation or honor of by false and malicious statements; malign, slander, or libel
Archaic to bring infamy on; disgrace
Obs. to accuse

Origin of defame

Middle English defamen, diffamen from Old French diffamer or Medieval Latin defamere, both from Classical Latin diffamare from dis-, from + fama: see fame

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"defame." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 05 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/defame>.

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defame. (n.d.). Retrieved December 05th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/defame

defame

transitive verb

de·famed, de·fam·ing, de·fames

To damage the reputation, character, or good name of (someone) by slander or libel. See Synonyms at malign.
Archaic To disgrace.

Origin of defame

Middle English defamen from Old French defamer from Medieval Latin dēfāmāre alteration of Latin diffāmāre to spread news of, slander dis- abroad, apart ; see dis- . fāma rumor, reputation ; see bhā-² in Indo-European roots.

Related Forms:

de·fam′er
noun

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.