slander

▪ I. slander, n.
    (ˈslɑːndə(r), -æ-)
    Forms: α. 3–6 sclaundre, 4–6 -der (4 -dire, 5 -dir); 4 sclawndire, 5 -dre, -dyr, -der; 4–6 sclander, -dre (6 -dir), 4 sclondre. β. 4–6 sklaunder (4 -dere, -dir, 4–5 -dre, 5 -dur, -dyre); 5 sklawnder (5–6 -dyr); 5 (Sc. 6–7) sklander (-dyr, 6 Sc. -dir, -dre). γ. 4–7 slaunder (4–5 -dre, 5 -dere), 4 slawndire; 5 slandyre, 6– slander.
    [ad. AF. esclaundre, OF. esclandre, an alteration of escandle, ad. L. scandalum: see scandal n.]
    1. The utterance or dissemination of false statements or reports concerning a person, or malicious misrepresentation of his actions, in order to defame or injure him; calumny, defamation.

α c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 165 Þov mis-seist mi louerd þe king;..ho miȝte soffri swuch sclaundre bote he nome þar⁓of wreche? a 1325 Prose Psalter xlix. 21 Þou..spak oȝain þy broþer, and þou settedest sclaundre oȝains þe sones of þy moder. 1340 Ayenb. 6 Þe ilke þet zuereþ zoþ.., naȝt kueadliche, ake liȝtliche and wyþ-oute sclondre. c 1450 Mirk's Festial 27 Þay þoghten forto take hym wyth som wordes of sclawndyr yn God. 1486 Bk. St. Albans f v, Ther be iiii. thyngs principall to be drad of euery wise man... The iiii. is sclaunder & the mutacion of a comynalte. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 138 b, The spiryte of falsnes, the spiryte of sclaunder.

β c 1375 Lay Folks Catech. (T.) 489 Sklaundir for to fordo a mannes gode fame. c 1384 Chaucer H. Fame iii. 1580 His other clarioun That hight sklaundre in euery toun With whiche he wonte is to diffame hem that me liste. c 1400 Cursor M. 27683 (Cott. Galba), Of enuy cummes oft grete grocheing, Missaw, sklander, and bacbiteing. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xlii. 100 That nobill king.. Chest Sklander to the west se cost. 1609 Skene Reg. Maj., Acts Jas. VI, 137 Any purpose of reproch, or sklander of his Majesties person, estate, or governement.

γ c 1440 Promp. Parv. 458/2 Slaunder,..calumpnia. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VI, 84 b, Whose mother susteyned not a litle slaunder and obloquye of the common people. 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie i. xvi. (Arb.) 50 The Poets being in deede the trumpetters of all praise and also of slaunder (not slaunder, but well deserued reproch). 1629 Carliell Deserving Favourite 833 Though heretofore the company of a Father Were a sufficient buckler to beare off slanders darts. 1649 Jer. Taylor Grt. Exemp. ii. Disc. ix. 124 He that kills a mans reputation by calumnies or slander, or open reviling. 1727 Gay Fables i. xxv, Who deals in slander, lives in strife. 1794 Coleridge Lines on a Friend 19 Shall Slander squatting near Spit her cold venom in a dead man's ear? 1817 W. Selwyn Law Nisi Prius (ed. 4) II. 1161 Falsehood and malice, either express or implied, are of the essence of the action for slander. 1872 Geo. Eliot Middlem. lxxiv, How much is only slander and false suspicion?

    † b. Fame, report, rumour. Obs.^—1
    Here used for the sake of the rime; but in some other ME. examples the idea of rumour is perhaps more prominent than that of falsity.

13.. K. Alis. 4797 (Laud MS.), The lijf of Alisaunder, Of whom fleiȝ so riche sklaunder. Ibid. 6066 Þe folk of þe londe herden þe sclaunder Þat to hem com kyng Alisaunder.

    2. A false or malicious statement or utterance intended to injure, defame, or cast detraction on the person about whom it is made.

α β 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 6851 Þer was vpe þe quene emme..ydo A luþer sclandre. c 1320 Sir Tristr. 2145 Vngiltles er ȝe In swiche a sclaunder brouȝt. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. iii. 86 To scornie and to scolde, sclaundres to make. a 1450 Knt. de la Tour 2 Of the whiche there come to diuerse gret defames and sclaundres withoute cause and reson. 1508 Fisher 7 Penit. Ps. cii. Wks. (1876) 155 There was neuer creature borne.. that myght escape the sclaundres and backbytynges of them whiche are backbyters. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 13 b, If he beynge tyckled wyth false complaintes and sklaunders [L. criminationibus], should come into Germany. 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 69 It maie be a sclaunder, but it is no lie.

γ c 1375 Lay Folks Catech. (L.) 1338 Slaundrys for to for-do a mannys good fame. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 132 Þe Emperour..askeþ þan What ys riȝte name was þat made such a slaundre. ‘Sire,’ said he, ‘sir Fyrumbras, þe kyng of Alysaundre’. 1590 Shakes. Much Ado ii. i. 144 His gift is, in deuising impossible slanders. 1611 B. Jonson Catiline iii. i, Where it concernes himselfe Who's angrie at a Slander, makes it true. a 1656 Bp. Hall Rem. Wks. (1660) 122 Your tongues..run ryot in..spightful slanders. 1727 Gay Fables i. xxv, One slander must ten thousand get. 1794 Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho lvi, Count de Villefort has detected the slanders that have robbed me of all I hold dear on earth. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xviii. IV. 172 His slanders were monstrous: but they were well timed. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 302 The envious..reduces his rivals to despair by his unjust slanders of them.

    † 3. Discredit, disgrace, or shame, incurred by or falling upon a person or persons, esp. on account of some transgression of the moral law, unworthy action, or misdemeanour; evil name, ill repute, opprobrium. Obs. Cf. scandal n. 2.
    In some cases not clearly separable from sense 1.

α 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 7287 Haraldes broþer, þat he drof in to flaundre,..him sulf to grete sclaundre. c 1375 Lay Folks Mass Bk. (MS. B.) 377 To hom þat are in ille lyue, In sclaunder, myscounforth, or in stryue. c 1400 Rom. Rose 5074 And she of hirs may hym, certeyne, With⁓oute sclaundre, yeven ageyn. a 1450 Knt. de la Tour 35, I will telle you of a lady that caught a gret blame and sclaundre atte iusting withoute cause. 1565 Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 340 Quhilk taill and brute, besydis the sclandir that it importis to thame.., is to hir Hienes self verie prejudiciall.

β 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. xii. 17 Hit were boþe skaþe and sklaundre to holy cherche. 1377 Ibid. B. xii. 47 Felyce hir fayrnesse fel hir al to sklaundre. c 1425 Audelay XI Pains of Hell 139 in O.E. Misc. 215 Þese..neuer wold shryue hem of þat trespase, Fore dred of sklawnder and penans doyng. 1470–85 Malory Arthur xviii. i. 726 He withdrewe hym from the companye and felaushyp of Quene Gueneuer for to eschewe the sklaunder and noyse. 1508 Dunbar Flyting 21 It is..tinsale baith of honour and of fame, Incres of sorrow, sklander, and evill name.

γ c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxi. (Clement) 618 With þat al schot sone one hyme,..& huntyt hym owt of þare towne with slandyre & confusione. a 1548 Hall Chron., Edw. V, 15 b, Muche matter was deuised in the same proclamacion to the slaunder of the Lord Hastynges. 1583 Stubbes Anat. Abus. ii. (1882) 75 Some [ministers] fall to one mischiefe, some to another, to the great slander of the Gospell of Iesus Christ. 1678 Sir G. Mackenzie Crim. Laws Scot. i. xvii. §iii, When they are suspected of Adultery, and thereby gives slander to the Kirk,..they are excommunicat.

    † b. Const. of the person, etc. Obs.

c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 2231 Philomene, Why madist thow on to the Slaundere of man, Or..Whi sufferist thow that tereus was bore. c 1400 Rom. Rose 3972 To me it is gret hevynesse, That the noyse so ferre is go, And the sclaundre of us twoo. 1428 in Surtees Misc. (1890) 3 In..ryght gret sklaundre of ye cite of York, and agayne ye course of trewe marchandise. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems lxxxii. 21 Think ȝe nocht schame, Sa litill polesie to wirk In hurt and sklander of ȝour name.

    † c. A source of shame or dishonour; a discreditable act; a disgrace; a wrong. Obs.

1390 Gower Conf. III. 189 If the lawe be forbore..It makth a lond torne up so doun, Which is unto the king a sclandre. 1470–85 Malory Arthur xviii. iv. 731 That shalle be a grete sklaunder for yow in thys Courte. 1480 Caxton Myrr. iii. xiii. 162 A grete lady whiche to fore had don to hym a grete sklaundre and dysplaysir. 1529 More Dyaloge iii. Wks. 218/1 And that wer a sore sclaunder to the word of god, that men should se him whom thei heare preache well, so proude an ypocryte. 1540 Act 32 Hen. VIII, c. 30 The whiche is thought as well a greate sclaunder to the said common lawe of this Realme.

    † d. A person who is a discredit, disgrace, or scandal to some body or set of persons. Obs.

1529 More Suppl. Souls Wks. 306/2 They should be of the worst sort, & such as now be sklaunder of their order. 1547 J. Harrison Exhort. Scottes a v, These..reputed heddes of the Churche, bee the onely shame and slaunder of the Churche. 1596 Spenser F.Q. iv. viii. 35 That shame⁓full Hag, the slaunder of her sexe.

    † 4. A cause of moral lapse or fall; a stumbling-block. = scandal n. 1 b, offence n. 2. Obs.

c 1340 Hampole Psalter xlviii. 13 Þis way, þat is, þis life of þa, for it ledis þaim til hell, is slawndire til þaim. 1382 Wyclif Matt. xiii. 41 Mannes sone shal sende his angels, and thei shulden gedre of his rewme alle sclaundris, and hem that don wickidnesse. a 1400 Apol. Loll. 57 Go o bak after me Sathanas, and þu art sclaunder to me. c 1449 Pecock Repr. iii. xi. 348 He was not so perfit that he couthe bere beggerie at ful withoute sclaundre. 1533 Gau Richt Vay 30 Ve prech Iesu Christ crucifeit, sclander to the Iowis and folie to the gentils. 1586 A. Day Eng. Secretary ii. (1625) 126 He that desirith to be good indeed ought not so much as to become an occasion or slander of evill.

    5. attrib. and Comb. (in sense 1), as slander action, slander-bearer, slander currency, slander law; slander-beaten, slander-mouthed adjs.

1600 Lane Tom Tel-troth 114 Whole volumes gainst their slander-bearers. 1622 Bp. Hall Serm. (1627) 492 A slander-beaten crosse, a crucified Sauiour. 1700 Congreve Way of World iii. v, A Slander-mouth'd Railer. 1777 Sheridan Sch. Scandal ii. ii, In all cases of slander currency, when⁓ever the drawer of the lie was not to be found. 1897 Westm. Gaz. 29 Nov. 5/3 Our slander law is still uncivilised. 1900 Daily News 1 June 7/4 Rumours had been spread about the village, on which the slander action was begun by him.

▪ II. slander, v.
    (ˈslɑːndə(r), -æ-)
    Forms: α. 4–6 sclaundre, -der (4 -dir, 5 -dyr), 4 schlaundre, 5 sclawndre, 4–6 sclandre, -der (5 -dir). β. 4–6 sklaundre, -der (5 -dir, -dur), 5 sklawnnder, 4–7 sklander (6 -dir). γ. 4–7 slaundre, -der, 5 -dir, slawnder, 5– slander.
    [ad. OF. esclandrer (and esclandrir), f. esclandre: see prec.]
    † 1. trans. In or after Biblical use: To be a stumbling-block to; to offend; to cause to lapse spiritually or morally. Obs. a. In passive; also refl. (see first quot.).

a 1300 Cursor M. 13109 Þat man sal for-blisced be Þe quilk him sclanders noght for me. c 1325 Metr. Hom. 35 Ful bliced..es he That es noht sclaunderd in me. 1382 Wyclif Mark iv. 17 Afterward tribulacioun sprongen vp,..anoon thei ben sclaundrid. c 1400 N. Love Bonavent. Mirr. xxviii. (1908) 146 Wherfore they were gretely sclaundred and stired aȝenst hym. c 1449 Pecock Repr. v. vi. 513 The persoon sclaundrid (that is to seie, prouokid and putt into synne). 1563 Winȝet Wks. (S.T.S.) I. 67 That the waik and infirm be nocht slanderit be our vngodly silence in tyme of persequtioun.

    b. Used actively. (Cf. scandalize v.¹ 2.)

1382 Wyclif Malachi ii. 8 Forsothe ȝe wenten awey fro the weye, and sclaundren ful many men in the lawe. c 1400 Apol. Loll. 40 He þat puttiþ forþ þis þing noiþer drediþ ne schamiþ to lette ne sclaunder oþer men. 1483 Caxton Cato C vj, If thyne eye sclaunder or shame thy self put hit fro the. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (1531) 61 Yf thyne eye sclaunder the, or be to the occasyon of synne.

    † 2. To bring into discredit, disgrace, or disrepute. Obs.

c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxxii. (Justin) 430 Þe feynde..thocht to fyle hyre gud name, & sclandir hyr, & gere thol scham. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) IV. 23 Þe prisoners þat were i-sent aȝe were i-sclaundred for evermore. c 1440 Alph. Tales 125 Þies synnes er grevus, and þerfor I enione þe to penance at þou schryfe þe noght of þaim vnto no noder man, for þai may gretlie sklander þe. c 1477 Caxton Jason 128 b, I entende not that by me ye sholde be sclawndrid. 1538 Starkey England ii. iii. 209 Now a days the precharys sklaunder the word of God, rather then teche hyt, by theyr contrary lyfe. 1592 Kyd Sp. Trag. ii. i, Yet might she loue me for my valiancie: I, but thats slaundred by captiuitie. 1603 Drayton Bar. Wars v. lviii, Least in that place the sad displeased earth, Doe loathe it selfe as slandered with my birth.

    3. To defame or calumniate; to assail with slander; to spread slanderous reports about, speak evil of, traduce (a person, etc.).

α c 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 4252 Thurgh pride he sal ogayn God ryse And hym sclaunder and his law dispise. 1397 Rolls of Parlt. III. 379/1 In that that I sclaundred my Loord, I knowleche that I dede evyll. a 1450 Knt. de la Tour 21 After these wordes, she wepte and saide he had sclaundred her, and that it shuld not abide unponisshed. 1468 Paston Lett. II. 314 W. Barker sclaundred me yn certeyn maters of gode... Wold Jesu Barker had seyd true. a 1569 A. Kingsmill Godly Advise (1580) 10 The finest clothe maie be soonest stained, the honestest maie bee soonest sclaundered. 1599 Sandys Europæ Spec. (1632) 74 Their art of sclaundering their opposites,..misreporting their actions [etc.].

β 13.. Evang. Nicod. 421 in Herrig Archiv LIII. 398 Wha sklaunders god, yhe wate he mon Be staned to ded for syn. c 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 7415 Þus in helle salle þai far ay, And þar-with sklaundre God. c 1425 Audelay XI Pains of Hell 77 in O.E. Misc. 213 Þo..Bakbidit here neȝtbore for enuy, And sklaundird hem in erþ ful falseley. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 84 b/1, I..haue leuer to deye than to dyffame & sklaundre my moder so fowly. 1581 J. Hamilton in Cath. Tract. (S.T.S.) 83 Gif they..sklander and blasphame lauful magistrats. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. 187 Throuch the inuie of sum persounis he had bene sklandiret to the Emperour.

γ c 1425 Hampole's Psalter Metr. Pref. 55 Thus þei seyd..And slaundird foule þis holy man. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 458/2 Slawnderon, scandalizo, calumpnior. 1530 Palsgr. 720/2 Have alwayes a good tonge in your heed, for it is both synne and shame to slaunder any bodye. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 16 To slaunder any man, before he be convicte of Heresye. 1621 Bp. Sanderson Serm. (1637) 51 It is deepliest slandered and hotliest opposed. 1653 W. Ramesey Astrol. Restored 307 One shall abuse and slander the other. 1735 Pope Prol. Sat. 374 Full ten years slander'd, did he once reply? 1735 Poole Dialogue 82 You slander us in this Point. 1864 Tennyson Aylmer's F. 350 Some one, he thought, had slander'd Leolin to him. 1888 G. Masson Med. France (1897) 42 Bertram de Born..spent his life in warring against his neighbours..and..slandering them in his sirventes.

    † b. To accuse (unjustly or otherwise) of, charge or reproach with, something discreditable. Also with that and clause. Obs.

c 1400 Destr. Troy 834, I am ferd..þat hit lede..me harme for to haue of thy hegh wille, To be sclaundret of þi skathe. c 1430 Chev. Assigne 234 She was sklawnndered on-hyȝe þat she hadde taken howndes. 1526 Tindale Titus i. 6 Havynge faythfull children which are not sclandred off royote. 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. iii. ii. 38 The best way is, to slander Valentine With falsehood, cowardize, and poore discent. 1603 Owen Pembrokeshire (1892) 128 That are (truelie) slaundred with eating fyve meales a day. 1607 B. Jonson Volpone iv. i, O, Sir, proceed: I'll slander you no more of wit, good Sir.

    † c. Sc. To charge with, accuse of, a crime or offence. Obs.

1504 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. II. 436 Men that wes sclanderit with finding of ane hurd. 1579 Reg. Privy Council Scot. III. 158 Personis sclanderit or suspect of treasoun salbe tane and remane in firmance. 1609 Skene Reg. Maj., Act Jas. II, 132 Gif any person is sklandered, or suspect of treason, he sal remaine in firmance.

    † 4. To speak or write evil of, to misrepresent or vilify (a thing). Obs.

1401 Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 94 Thou wenest thou saist soth whan thou liest most lewde, and sclaunderist the truthe. 1549 Compl. Scotl. xx. 183 Thir freuole sophistaris that marthirs and sklandirs the text of aristotel, deseruis punitione. 1569 Rogers Glasse of Godly Love 178 Make such ashamed as would sclaunder the holy Gospell. 1623 Lisle ælfric on O. & N. Test. Pref. 11 It hath beene slandered for heresie and new doctrine to have the Scripture in vulgar.

    5. intr. or absol. To speak or utter slanders.

1426 Audelay Poems 6 Ne say no word to hym sklaunderyng. 1428 in Surtees Misc. (1890) 6 He was counseld and biddyn noght to sclandyr in na maner bot say fully ye treuthe. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xli. 22 Be ȝe so wyiss that vderis at ȝow leir, Be nevir he to sklander nor defame. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. ii. iii. vii, Let them rail, then, scoff, and slander. 1855 Tennyson Maud i. iv. iv, I keep but a man and a maid, ever ready to slander and steal.

    † 6. trans. To publish or spread abroad. rare.

c 1375 Cursor M. 27425 (Fairf.), Atte wiser squa his rede aske he, þat na man shrift sklaunderet be. c 1470 Henry Wallace vii. 919 Tharfor I will bot lychtly ryn that cace, Bot it be thing that playnly sclanderit is.

    Hence ˈslandered ppl. a. Also absol.

1602 Colleton (title), A Ivst Defence of the Slandered Priestes. 1819 Shelley Cenci iii. i. 285 We Are now..man to man;..The slanderer to the slandered; foe to foe. 1881 M. E. Braddon Asph. II. 230 They all preferred the slandered to the slanderer; but they listened all the same.

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