entry
slander
/ˈslændər/Maliciously false speech damaging someone’s reputation
From Greek scandal (Trap).
from Latin scandalum "cause of offense, stumbling block, temptation" (see scandal ). It is attested
from Old French esclandre
from Middle English slaundre, sclaundre
Word Ancestry
from Latin scandalum "cause of offense, stumbling block, temptation" (see scandal ). It is attested
from Old French esclandre
from Middle English slaundre, sclaundre
Picture an ancient Greek trap: a spring-loaded stick or trigger waiting to trip an unwary foot. That was skándalon, a literal stumbling block—and, in the Greek Bible and New Testament, a metaphor for anything that made someone stumble into sin. Latin carried it across religious writing as scandalum, while French turned it into esclandre, a disgraceful public affair or scandalous utterance. English borrowed and reshaped that form in the late 13th century, with the intrusive l helping produce slaundre and eventually slander. The word still preserves the old trap: a slander is verbal bait designed to make someone else fall.
The Story
Picture an ancient Greek trap: a spring-loaded stick or trigger waiting to trip an unwary foot. That was skándalon, a literal stumbling block—and, in the Greek Bible and New Testament, a metaphor for anything that made someone stumble into sin. Latin carried it across religious writing as scandalum, while French turned it into esclandre, a disgraceful public affair or scandalous utterance. English borrowed and reshaped that form in the late 13th century, with the intrusive l helping produce slaundre and eventually slander. The word still preserves the old trap: a slander is verbal bait designed to make someone else fall.
Kin & Kindred
From 'scandal'·Trap, stumbling block, cause of offense
Derived Terms
English words from this root
Sources
Etymonline
Free Dictionary
Urban Dictionary
Wikipedia
Wiktionary