1. A false statement maliciously made to injure another's reputation.
2. The utterance of maliciously false statements; slander.

[Middle English calumnie, from Old French calomnie, from Latin calumnia, from calvī, to deceive.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.