Word of the Day

: April 24, 2011

aspersion

noun uh-SPER-zhun

What It Means

1 : a sprinkling with water especially in religious ceremonies

2 a : a false or misleading charge meant to harm someone's reputation

b : the act of making such a charge : defamation

aspersion in Context

Melissa believed that Roger had unjustly cast aspersions on the quality of her research.

"There's always, for whoever is president, the opponents, the people on the other side who cast aspersions that they may not even believe themselves…." -- Laura Bush in an interview on Fox News Network, May 16, 2010

Did You Know?

"No sweet aspersion shall the heavens let fall / To make this contract grow." In this line from Shakespeare's The Tempest, "aspersion" literally refers to a sprinkling of rain, but figuratively means "blessing." Shakespeare's use is true to the heritage of the term. "Aspersion" comes from the Latin word "aspersus," itself a derivative of the verb "aspergere," which means "to sprinkle" or "to scatter." When "aspersion" first appeared in English in the 16th century, it referred to the type of sprinklings (for instance, of holy water) that occur in religious ceremonies. But English speakers noted that splatterings can soil and stain, and by the end of the century "aspersion" was also being used for reports that stain or tarnish a reputation.