Blacken

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /ˈblækən/

Definitions

1. To make or become dark in color, or to damage someone's reputation by spreading harmful accusations
2. To take on a darker hue or to tarnish someone's good name through malicious comments
3. To transform into a darker shade or to harm an individual's standing by making false claims

Etymology: "Blacken" is about as transparent as English verbs get: it is simply "black" with the verbal suffix "-en" attached, the same ending found in "soften", "lighten" and "darken". The Middle English form "blaknen" (with a variant "blakkenen") shows the basic idea clearly, since the stem is the adjective itself, turned into an action of making something become black. The more interesting part is the second sense. Making something dark literally, by smudging or soot, was the original idea, and the figurative sense of tarnishing someone's reputation grew naturally out of it. A good name was pictured as bright and clean, so damaging it by malicious talk was imagined as staining it with dark marks. The word therefore moved from the physical act of darkening to the social one without any real change in its ingredients, only in the thing being darkened.

Synonyms: darken, char, burn, blemish, smudge

Antonyms: whiten, brighten, clean, purify, clarify