Spread false and damaging statements about someone to harm their reputation.
From Old Norse 'slanda' meaning to defend oneself against false charges, which evolved through Old French 'esclandre' to mean false, defamatory speech. The meaning shifted from defensive speech to offensive falsehoods over centuries.
Slander is actually different from libel in legal terms—slander is spoken lies while libel is written ones, but both can destroy people's lives. Medieval courts were obsessed with slander cases because reputation was literally your value in society.
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