English
slander
Slander comes from Old French esclandre, from Ecclesiastical Latin scandalum ‘stumbling block, temptation’, and ultimately from Ancient Greek σκάνδαλον ‘scandal’.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEσκάνδαλονskándalon‘scandal’
- Ecclesiastical Latinc. 200–1500scandalum‘stumbling block, temptation’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400esclandre
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500slaundre
- Englishearliest quotation 1601slander
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEσκάνδαλονskándalon‘scandal’
- Ecclesiastical Latinc. 200–1500scandalum‘stumbling block, temptation’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400esclandre
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500slaundre
- Englishearliest quotation 1601slander
Earliest quotation: 1601, Ben Jonson, Poetaster or The Arraignment: […]: “Tuc[ca]. […] Can thy Author doe it impudently enough?…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *skend- ‘to jump’
scale, scan, ascension, descend, echelon, escalator, scala, ascendant, skein, 12 more
through Ancient Greek σκάνδαλον ‘scandal’
through Ecclesiastical Latin scandalum ‘stumbling block, temptation’
Today it means
noun A false or unsupported, malicious statement (spoken, not written), especially one which is injurious to a person's reputation; the making of such a statement.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek σκάνδαλον / slander