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libel

Syllabification: (li·bel)

Pronunciation: /ˈlībəl/

Translate libel | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish

Definition of libel

noun

1 Law a published false statement that is damaging to a person’s reputation; a written defamation. Compare with slander.
the action or crime of publishing a false statement about a person:a councilor who sued two national newspapers for libel [as modifier]:a libel action
a false and malicious statement about a person.
a thing or circumstance that brings undeserved discredit on a person by misrepresentation.

2(in admiralty and ecclesiastical law) a plaintiff’s written declaration.

verb (libels, libeling, libeled ; Britishlibels, libelling, libelled)

[with object]

1 Law defame (someone) by publishing a libel:she alleged the magazine had libeled her
make a false and malicious statement about.

2(in admiralty and ecclesiastical law) bring a suit against (someone).

Derivatives

libeler

Origin:

Middle English (in the general sense 'a document, a written statement'): via Old French from Latin libellus, diminutive of liber 'book'

Spelling rule

Do not double the final consonant when adding endings that begin with a vowel to a word that ends in a vowel plus a consonant, if the stress is not at the end of the word (as in target): (libels, libeling, libeled).

libel in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of libel in the British & World English dictionary

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