defame

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English defamen, also diffamen,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Anglo-Norman defamer and diffamer,^[5][6] also borrowed from Old French defamer and diffamer,^[7][8][2][9] and directly borrowed from Latin diffāmō (“to spread abroad, slander”).^[5][2] The forms in dē- reflect Medieval Latin dēfāmō,^[7][8][10] an alteration of the classical verb under the influence of that prefix,^[3][6] recorded from the 6th century; compare dēfāmātus (“infamous”).^[5][6] The Latin verb is formed from dis- and fāma (“report, rumour, reputation”), the source of fame.^{[5][4][9][11]} Dictionaries read the prefix differently: "abroad, apart" in the American Heritage Dictionary, removal in the Oxford Dictionary of English, and ruination in Ayto and, tentatively, Etymonline.^{[10][12][11][7]} Etymonline and the American Heritage Dictionary trace the Latin noun to Proto-Indo-European *bha- (“to speak, tell, say”).^[7][10] The Anglo-Norman verb is recorded from the mid-12th century, with the senses to spread abroad, to slander and to accuse.^[13] The noun is partly from the English verb and partly borrowed from Anglo-Norman diffame, from that verb.^[5][14][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

To damage someone's good name: about 1303, in Robert Mannyng's Handlyng Synne,^[8][5][2] in a manuscript of before 1400.^[5][2] Etymonline has about 1300.^[7] The OED's first manuscript date is before 1382, in the Wycliffite Bible, in another sense, "to proclaim, make widely known".^[5]

Semantic evolution

All the main English senses were already in Anglo-Norman and Old French.^[13][5] The neutral "to make known" came chiefly from translating the Vulgate's Medieval Latin diffāmō, and died out by 1470.^[5] "To bring dishonour on" and "to accuse of an offence" both appear before 1387, in Trevisa's Polychronicon.^[5][2] Chaucer used the verb for slandering, accusing and disgracing alike.^[15] Johnson (1755) gave "to make infamous; to censure falsely in publick".^[16] Slander is now the main sense, with a legal use for harming a reputation by false statements.^[5][17][3] "To dishonour" is now rare,^[5] and "to accuse" is called archaic by Merriam-Webster and Collins, the Shorter Oxford's last record being from the early 19th century, in Scott.^[3][17][14] The noun defame, used by Gower before 1393 and by Spenser, was already "not in use" for Johnson in 1773.^[5][16]

Timeline

• c. 1303 – to damage a person's good name, in Mannyng's Handlyng Synne.^[8][5][2]
• before 1382 – to proclaim, make widely known, in the Wycliffite Bible (last recorded 1470).^[5]
• before 1387 – to bring dishonour on; to accuse of an offence, in Trevisa's Polychronicon.^[5][2]
• before 1393 – noun, dishonour, disrepute, in Gower's Confessio Amantis.^[5]
• before 1450 – noun, defamation, slander.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To harm the good name of someone by false or malicious statements; to slander or libel: The pamphlet defamed a respected local doctor.^[3][17][5]
2. (archaic) To bring disgrace on; to dishonour.^[3][14][5]
3. (archaic) To accuse of an offence.^[3][17][14]

Noun

1. (archaic) Dishonour, infamy.^[5][3][14]
2. (archaic) Defamation, slander.^[5][3][14]

Word family

• defamer
• defamingly
• undefamed

Related words

• defamatory
• defamation
• fame
• infamy
• infamous
• famous

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
9. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
11. ^ a b Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
12. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
13. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
14. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
15. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
16. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
17. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins