defamation

noun

1. the act of defaming; false or unjustified injury of the good reputation of another, as by slander or libel; calumny: She sued the magazine for defamation of character.

noun

1. law the injuring of a person’s good name or reputationCompare libel, slander
2. the act of defaming or state of being defamed

n.

c.1300, from Old French diffamacion, Medieval Latin deffamation, from Latin diffamationem (nominative diffamatio), noun of action from past participle stem of diffamare (see defame).