defame. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

defame

SYLLABICATION:	de·fame
PRONUNCIATION:	d-fm
TRANSITIVE VERB:	Inflected forms: de·famed, de·fam·ing, de·fames 1. To damage the reputation, character, or good name of by slander or libel. See synonyms at malign. 2. Archaic To disgrace.
ETYMOLOGY:	Middle English defamen, from Old French defamer, from Medieval Latin dfmre, alteration of Latin diffmre, to spread news of, slander : dis-, abroad, apart; see dis– + fma, rumor, reputation; see bh-² in Appendix I.
OTHER FORMS:	de·famer —NOUN


The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.