Calumniation

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The act of wrongfully accusing someone with the intent to harm their image or credibility; the deliberate dissemination of false information aimed at tarnishing a person's reputation; the malicious effort to undermine another's standing by fabricating accusations against them
2. The act of making unjust and damaging claims about someone to harm their reputation
3. The intentional spreading of untrue statements meant to discredit another person

Etymology: Calumniation is a straightforward formation: it is built on "calumniate," which came into English from Latin "calumniari," meaning to accuse falsely or to bring a groundless charge, and the noun is that verb with the ending that turns actions into names for those actions. The ending itself has a long road behind it. It runs back through an ancient suffix that appears in Latin as "-tio," with the stem "-ātio" built on the verb ending "-āre," and it passed through Old French "-ation" into Middle English "-acioun" before settling into the modern "-ation" spelling that English shares with many Latinate nouns. The noun is therefore the name for the act of calumniating, and the sense of deliberately spreading falsehoods to damage someone's reputation follows directly from the verb's Latin core of false accusation. The formation is a regular one, so its meaning is transparent: whoever sees the verb can read the noun straight from it.

Synonyms: slander, defamation, libel, maliciousness, denigration

Antonyms: praise, commendation, approval, honor, acclaim