Third-person singular present tense: he, she, or it makes false statements that damage someone's reputation.
From Middle English and Old French 'defamer', from Latin 'defamare', combining 'de-' (down) and 'fama' (fame, report). The meaning is to take away someone's good fame or reputation.
When a newspaper article 'defames' someone by printing lies about them, it can lead to major lawsuits—the New York Times has had to pay settlements when they published defaming statements, even accidentally.
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