calumny

The story

1. Latin · derived fromcalumpniārī
2. Late Latin · derived fromcalumniāre
3. French · derived fromcalomnier“to slander”
4. Latin · derived fromcalumnia“false statement, misrepresentation; false accusation, malicious charge”
5. Old French · derived fromcalomnie“slander, calumny”
6. Middle English · inherited fromcalumnīe“false accusation, slander; (law) objection raised in bad faith”
7. English todaycalumny

From Late Middle English calumnīe (“false accusation, slander; (law) objection raised in bad faith”), borrowed from Old French calomnie (“slander, calumny”) (modern French calomnie), or directly from its etymon Latin calumnia (“false statement, misrepresentation; false accusation, malicious charge”), perhaps also related to calvor (“to deceive”). The English word is a doublet of challenge. The verb is derived from French calomnier (“to slander”), from Late Latin calumniāre, from Latin calumpniārī, calumniārī (“to blame unjustly, misrepresent, calumniate; (law) to accuse falsely, bring false information against”), from calumnia (see above) + -or.

Words from the same roots