Blackmail

Part of speech: noun, verb

Pronunciation: /ˈblækˌmeɪl/

Definitions

1. The act of demanding money or favors from someone by threatening to reveal embarrassing or damaging information about them
2. The practice of coercing an individual into providing something of value through the threat of exposure or harm to their reputation or interests
3. The method of extorting money or benefits from someone by threatening to disclose sensitive or damaging information about them

Etymology: Border farmers in sixteenth-century Scotland and northern England paid protection money to raiding gangs, called reivers, in exchange for being left alone. The payment was known in Latin as "reditus nigri," or "black rent," and the contrast with "white rent," payment made in silver, shows how the word's first sense was tied to the form the payment took. The most likely origin of the "mail" half is an older Germanic word meaning agreement, speech or lawsuit, which in English came to mean a payment or rent. Put together with "black," the term described an arrangement enforced by threat rather than agreed in good faith. Its meaning broadened around 1826 to cover any extortion money, not only protection payments.

Synonyms: extortion, coercion, pressure, duress, shakedown

Antonyms: generosity, altruism, philanthropy, donation, gift