Defamatory
A Dictionary of Law · William C. Anderson · 1889
A Dictionary of Law
Words which produce perceptible injury to the reputation of another are described as defamatory.
Whence defamation
Defamatory words, if false, are actionable. False defamatory words, if written and published, constitute a libel; if spoken, a slander.^ A defamatoiy publication is a false publipation calciilated to bring the person into disrepute, but it is not necessarily malicious.^ See Fame; Libel, 5; Obloquy; Slander.