Libel

How to spell libel

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce libel

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does libel mean?

1. nounA false published statement that damages a person's reputation.
2. verbTo damage someone's reputation by publishing a false statement about them.

Libel in a sentence

• noun

  The newspaper printed a correction after the article was ruled a libel.

• verb

  The columnist was warned not to libel the company in print.

• noun

  His lawyers argued that the blog post amounted to libel.

• verb

  A tabloid can libel a public figure and face a costly lawsuit.

Where does libel come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word comes from the Latin libellus, a diminutive of liber meaning 'book', so it literally meant 'a little book' or 'a short written document'. In medieval legal Latin a libellus was a written formal complaint or plaintiff's statement, and English borrowed the word through Old French around the 1300s, at first simply meaning a written declaration or leaflet. Because such documents were often used to circulate damaging accusations against a person, the sense narrowed over the following centuries to mean a defamatory statement set down in writing or print. That distinguishes it from slander, which is spoken defamation. The same liber root that gave us 'library' explains the single 'b' and the unexpected 'libel' rather than 'lible' spelling, since the word descends from a book, not from being 'liable'.

How the word is built

• libel (from Latin libellus: little book, written accusation)