Saying something false and harmful about someone's reputation, usually spoken rather than written.
From Old French 'esclandre' meaning 'scandal or shame,' possibly from Scandinavian sources. The word entered English in the 1300s with the legal meaning of false spoken accusations.
Legally, 'slandering' (spoken lies) differs from 'libel' (written lies), and historically you could be executed for slandering a monarch—words literally had the power of life and death!
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