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defamation

noun

  1. crime or tort of harming the reputation of a legal person through false or misleading statement
  2. damage the reputation, character, or good name by slander or libel, slander, libel
L319192 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ˌdɛfəˈmeɪʃən/

noun

Etymology: From Old French diffamacion (French diffamation), from Latin diffāmātiō. By surface analysis, defame + -ation.

  1. The act of injuring another person's reputation by any slanderous communication, written or oral; the wrong of maliciously injuring the good name of another.

    She sued his ex-boyfriend for defamation and is seeking $14,000.

    In a closed trial on December 24, 2004, the People’s Court of Jinshui District in the city of Zhengzhou, Henan Province, convicted Zhang Ruquan, along with his associate Zhang Zhengyao, in a public prosecution on charges of defamation that “seriously undermined social order or the state interest.” The two were sentenced to three years in prison for defaming former Chinese President Jiang Zemin.