Past tense of blaspheme; to speak disrespectfully or irreverently about God or something sacred.
From Greek 'blasphemein' (blaptos=hurtful + pheme=speech), literally meaning 'hurtful speech.' Entered English through Old French and has meant irreverent speech for centuries.
This word literally means 'harmful speech' in Greek—people were so frightened of irreverent language that they created a specific crime category around it in religious societies!
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