published material which slanders or maliciously defames (Law); publishing of slanderous material (Law); material which intentionally slanders or maliciously defames
slander, defame, malign, insult, make false and malicious accusations against; publish a libel against (Law)
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Libel Definition from Language, Idioms & Slang Dictionaries & Glossaries
(v. t.)
To proceed against by filing a libel, particularly against a ship or goods.
To proceed against by filing a libel, particularly against a ship or goods.
(v. t.)
To defame, or expose to public hatred, contempt, or ridicule, by a writing, picture, sign, etc.; to lampoon.
To defame, or expose to public hatred, contempt, or ridicule, by a writing, picture, sign, etc.; to lampoon.
(v. i.)
To spread defamation, written or printed; -- with against.
To spread defamation, written or printed; -- with against.
(n.)
The crime of issuing a malicious defamatory publication.
The crime of issuing a malicious defamatory publication.
(n.)
Any defamatory writing; a lampoon; a satire.
Any defamatory writing; a lampoon; a satire.
(n.)
A written declaration or statement by the plaintiff of his cause of action, and of the relief he seeks.
A written declaration or statement by the plaintiff of his cause of action, and of the relief he seeks.
(n.)
A malicious publication expressed either in print or in writing, or by pictures, effigies, or other signs, tending to expose another to public hatred, contempt, or ridicule. Such publication is indictable at common law.
A malicious publication expressed either in print or in writing, or by pictures, effigies, or other signs, tending to expose another to public hatred, contempt, or ridicule. Such publication is indictable at common law.
(n.)
A brief writing of any kind, esp. a declaration, bill, certificate, request, supplication, etc.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), edited by Noah Porter. AboutA brief writing of any kind, esp. a declaration, bill, certificate, request, supplication, etc.
libel
\li"bel\ (lī"b&ebreve;l), n. [l. libellus a little book, pamphlet, libel, lampoon, dim. of liber the liber or inner bark of a tree; also (because the ancients wrote on this bark), paper, parchment, or a roll of any material used to write upon, and hence, a book or treatise: cf. f. libelle.]
1. a brief writing of any kind, esp. a declaration, bill, certificate, request, supplication, etc. [obs.] a libel of forsaking [divorcement]. (matt. v. 31).
2. any defamatory writing; a lampoon; a satire.
3. (law) a malicious publication expressed either in print or in writing, or by pictures, effigies, or other signs, tending to expose another to public hatred, contempt, or ridicule. such publication is indictable at common law.
note: the term, in a more extended sense, includes the publication of such writings, pictures, and the like, as are of a blasphemous, treasonable, seditious, or obscene character. these also are indictable at common law.
4. (law) the crime of issuing a malicious defamatory publication.
5. (civil law & courts of admiralty) a written declaration or statement by the plaintiff of his cause of action, and of the relief he seeks.
libel
\li"bel\ (lī"b&ebreve;l), v. i. to spread defamation, written or printed; -- with against. [obs.] what's this but libeling against the senate? [he] libels now 'gainst each great man.
libel
\li"bel\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. libeled (-b&ebreve;ld) or libelled; p. pr. & vb. n. libeling or libelling.] 1. to defame, or expose to public hatred, contempt, or ridicule, by a writing, picture, sign, etc.; to lampoon. some wicked wits have libeled all the fair.
2. (law) to proceed against by filing a libel, particularly against a ship or goods.
similar words(1)
publication of a libel
Defamation
A tort consisting of false and malicious publication printed for the purpose of defaming a living person.
usage note:Do not confuse "libel" with "slander".In English law, libel is defamation (the publishing of what is false or derogatory) in permanent form, such as in writing, printing, and radio and TV broadcasts, while slander is not in permanent form, so that it is in spoken words or in gestures: The actor issued a writ for libel; Slander is not legally a crime unless it can be proved that special damage was done to the person or persons concerned.
eg:Europe's past cannot and should not be denied, any more than white America's. This article is, however, simply a libel on present-day Europeans. There are no pogroms, no enforced ghettoes, no best-selling anti-Semitic books, movies or tracts. No politician can expect to gain votes out of anti-Semitism in any part of western Europe. Only the truly bonkers go in for it - which is more than you can say, alas, about anti-Muslimism. Talk about taking a Krauthammer to crack a nut.(David Aronovitch 10 May 2002-INDEPENDENT)
usage note:Do not confuse "libel" with "slander".In English law, libel is defamation (the publishing of what is false or derogatory) in permanent form, such as in writing, printing, and radio and TV broadcasts, while slander is not in permanent form, so that it is in spoken words or in gestures: The actor issued a writ for libel; Slander is not legally a crime unless it can be proved that special damage was done to the person or persons concerned.
eg:Europe's past cannot and should not be denied, any more than white America's. This article is, however, simply a libel on present-day Europeans. There are no pogroms, no enforced ghettoes, no best-selling anti-Semitic books, movies or tracts. No politician can expect to gain votes out of anti-Semitism in any part of western Europe. Only the truly bonkers go in for it - which is more than you can say, alas, about anti-Muslimism. Talk about taking a Krauthammer to crack a nut.(David Aronovitch 10 May 2002-INDEPENDENT)
Noun
1. a tort consisting of false and malicious publication printed for the purpose of defaming a living person
(hypernym) defamation, calumny, obloquy, traducement, hatchet job
(classification) law, jurisprudence
2. the written statement of a plaintiff explaining the cause of action (the defammation) and any relief he seeks
(hypernym) complaint
(classification) law, jurisprudence
Verb
1. print slanderous statements against; "The newspaper was accused of libeling him"
(hypernym) defame, slander, smirch, asperse, denigrate, calumniate, smear, sully, besmirch
(derivation) defamer, maligner, slanderer, vilifier, libeler, backbiter, traducer
Libel Definition from Business & Finance Dictionaries & Glossaries
Libel Definition from Encyclopedia Dictionaries & Glossaries
Defamation—also called calumny, vilification, traducement, slander (for transitory statements), and libel (for written, broadcast, or otherwise published words)—is the communication of a statement that makes a claim, expressly stated or implied to be factual, that may give an individual, business, product, group, government, or nation a negative image. This can be also any disparaging statement made by one person about another, which is communicated or published, whether true or false, depending on legal state. In Common Law it is usually a requirement that this claim be false and that the publication is communicated to someone other than the person defamed (the claimant).
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Libel Definition from Law Dictionaries & Glossaries
Published material meeting three conditions: The material is defamatory either on its face or indirectly; The defamatory statement is about someone who is identifiable to one or more persons; and, The material must be distributed to someone other than the offended party; i.e. published; distinguished from slander.
Criminal Law. A malicious defamation expressed either in printing or writing or by signs or pictures, tending to blacken the memory of one who is dead, with intent to provoke the living; or the reputation of one who is alive and to expose him to public hatred, contempt or ridicule. It has been defined perhaps with more precision to be a censorious or ridiculous writing, picture or sign, made with a malicious or mischievous intent.
In briefly considering this offence, we will inquire: 1. By what mode of expression a libel may be conveyed; 2. Of what kind of defamation it must consist; 3. How plainly it must be expressed; 4. What mode of publication is essential.
The reduction of the slanderous matter to writing or printing, is the most usual mode of conveying it. The exhibition of a picture, intimating that which in print would be libelous, is equally criminal. Fixing a gallows at a man's door, burning him in effigy or exhibiting him in any ignominious manner, is a libel.
There is perhaps no branch of the law which is so difficult to reduce to exact principles or to compress within a small compass as the requisites of a libel. All publications denying the Christian religion to be true; all writings subversive of morality and tending to inflame the passions by indecent language, are indictable at common law. In order to constitute a libel, it is not necessary that anything criminal should be imputed to the party injured; it is enough if the writer has exhibited him in a ludicrous point of view; has pointed him out as an object of ridicule or disgust; has, in short, done that which has a natural tendency to excite him to revenge.
The case of Villars v. Monsley was grounded upon the following verses which were held to be libelous, namely: 'Old-Villers, so strong of brimstone you smell... As if not long since you had got out of hell... But this damnable smell I no longer can bear. Therefore I desire you would come no more here; You, old stinking, old nasty, old itchy, old toad... If you come any more you shall pay for your board... You'll therefore take this as a warning from me and never enter the doors, while they belong to J. P. Wilncot, December 4, 1767.'
Libels against the memory of the dead which have a tendency to create a breach of the peace by inciting the friends and relatives of the deceased to avenge the insult of the fanlily, render their authors liable to legal animadversion.
If the matter be understood as scandalous and is calculated to excite ridicule or abhorrence against the party intended, it is libelous, however it may be expressed.
The malicious reading of a libel to one or more persons, it being for sale on the shelves in a bookstore; and where the defendant directed the libel to be printed, took away some and left others; these several acts have been held to be publications. The sale of each copy, where several copies have been sold, is a distinct publication and a fresh offence.
The publication must be malicious; evidence of the malice may be either express or implied. Express proof is not necessary for where a man publishes a writing which on the face of it is libelous, the law presumes he does so from that malicious intention which constitutes the offence and it is unnecessary for the prosecution to prove any circumstance from which malice may be inferred. But no allegation, however false and malicious, contained in answers to interrogatories, in affidavits duly made or any other proceedings, in courts of justice or petitions to the legislature, are indictable. It is no defence that the matter published is part of a document printed by order of the house of commons.
The publisher of a libel is liable to be punished criminally by indictment or is subject to an action on the case by the party grieved. Both remedies may be pursued at the same time.
Practice. A libel has been defined to be 'the plaintiff's petition or allegation, made and exhibited in a judicial process, with some solemnity of law;' it is also, said to be 'a short and well ordered writing, setting forth in a clear manner, as well to the judge as to the defendant, the plaintiff's or accuser's intention in judgment.' It is a written statement by a plaintiff, of his cause of action and of the relief he seeks to obtain in a suit.
The libel should be a narrative, specious, clear, direct, certain, not general, nor alternative. It should contain, substantially, the following requisites: 1. The name, description and addition of the plaintiff, who makes his demand by bringing his action; 2 The name, description and addition of the defendant; 3. The name of the judge with a respectful designation of his office and court; 4. The thing or relief, general or special, which is demanded in the suit; 5. The grounds upon which the suit is founded.
The form of a libel is either simple or articulate. The simple form is, when the cause of action is stated in a continuous narration, when the cause of action can be briefly set forth. The articulate form is when the cause of action is stated in distinct allegations or articles. The material facts should be stated in distinct articles in the libel, with as much exactness and attention to times and circumstances as in a declaration at common law. Pompous diction and strong epithets are out of place in a legal paper designed to obtain the admission of the opposite party of the averments it contains or to lay before the court the facts which the actor will prove.
This entry contains material from Bouvier's Legal Dictionary, a work published in the 1850's.
Courtesy of the 'Lectric Law Library.Criminal Law. A malicious defamation expressed either in printing or writing or by signs or pictures, tending to blacken the memory of one who is dead, with intent to provoke the living; or the reputation of one who is alive and to expose him to public hatred, contempt or ridicule. It has been defined perhaps with more precision to be a censorious or ridiculous writing, picture or sign, made with a malicious or mischievous intent.
In briefly considering this offence, we will inquire: 1. By what mode of expression a libel may be conveyed; 2. Of what kind of defamation it must consist; 3. How plainly it must be expressed; 4. What mode of publication is essential.
The reduction of the slanderous matter to writing or printing, is the most usual mode of conveying it. The exhibition of a picture, intimating that which in print would be libelous, is equally criminal. Fixing a gallows at a man's door, burning him in effigy or exhibiting him in any ignominious manner, is a libel.
There is perhaps no branch of the law which is so difficult to reduce to exact principles or to compress within a small compass as the requisites of a libel. All publications denying the Christian religion to be true; all writings subversive of morality and tending to inflame the passions by indecent language, are indictable at common law. In order to constitute a libel, it is not necessary that anything criminal should be imputed to the party injured; it is enough if the writer has exhibited him in a ludicrous point of view; has pointed him out as an object of ridicule or disgust; has, in short, done that which has a natural tendency to excite him to revenge.
The case of Villars v. Monsley was grounded upon the following verses which were held to be libelous, namely: 'Old-Villers, so strong of brimstone you smell... As if not long since you had got out of hell... But this damnable smell I no longer can bear. Therefore I desire you would come no more here; You, old stinking, old nasty, old itchy, old toad... If you come any more you shall pay for your board... You'll therefore take this as a warning from me and never enter the doors, while they belong to J. P. Wilncot, December 4, 1767.'
Libels against the memory of the dead which have a tendency to create a breach of the peace by inciting the friends and relatives of the deceased to avenge the insult of the fanlily, render their authors liable to legal animadversion.
If the matter be understood as scandalous and is calculated to excite ridicule or abhorrence against the party intended, it is libelous, however it may be expressed.
The malicious reading of a libel to one or more persons, it being for sale on the shelves in a bookstore; and where the defendant directed the libel to be printed, took away some and left others; these several acts have been held to be publications. The sale of each copy, where several copies have been sold, is a distinct publication and a fresh offence.
The publication must be malicious; evidence of the malice may be either express or implied. Express proof is not necessary for where a man publishes a writing which on the face of it is libelous, the law presumes he does so from that malicious intention which constitutes the offence and it is unnecessary for the prosecution to prove any circumstance from which malice may be inferred. But no allegation, however false and malicious, contained in answers to interrogatories, in affidavits duly made or any other proceedings, in courts of justice or petitions to the legislature, are indictable. It is no defence that the matter published is part of a document printed by order of the house of commons.
The publisher of a libel is liable to be punished criminally by indictment or is subject to an action on the case by the party grieved. Both remedies may be pursued at the same time.
Practice. A libel has been defined to be 'the plaintiff's petition or allegation, made and exhibited in a judicial process, with some solemnity of law;' it is also, said to be 'a short and well ordered writing, setting forth in a clear manner, as well to the judge as to the defendant, the plaintiff's or accuser's intention in judgment.' It is a written statement by a plaintiff, of his cause of action and of the relief he seeks to obtain in a suit.
The libel should be a narrative, specious, clear, direct, certain, not general, nor alternative. It should contain, substantially, the following requisites: 1. The name, description and addition of the plaintiff, who makes his demand by bringing his action; 2 The name, description and addition of the defendant; 3. The name of the judge with a respectful designation of his office and court; 4. The thing or relief, general or special, which is demanded in the suit; 5. The grounds upon which the suit is founded.
The form of a libel is either simple or articulate. The simple form is, when the cause of action is stated in a continuous narration, when the cause of action can be briefly set forth. The articulate form is when the cause of action is stated in distinct allegations or articles. The material facts should be stated in distinct articles in the libel, with as much exactness and attention to times and circumstances as in a declaration at common law. Pompous diction and strong epithets are out of place in a legal paper designed to obtain the admission of the opposite party of the averments it contains or to lay before the court the facts which the actor will prove.
This entry contains material from Bouvier's Legal Dictionary, a work published in the 1850's.
Defamation by writing such as in a newspaper or a letter. - (read more on Libel)
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A tort consisting of a false, malicious publication aiming to defame aliving person. Printed or written material, signs or pictures that tend toexpose a person to public scorn, hatred, contempt, or ridicule may beconsidered libelous.
A written and published statement/article which infers
damaging remarks on a persons reputation
By Her Majesty's Courts Service. Published under Crown Copyright.