n.
- Law the publication of a false statement that is damaging to a person's reputation. Compare with slander.
▸such a statement; a written defamation.
- (in admiralty and ecclesiastical law) a plaintiff's written declaration.
v.
(libels, libelling, libelled; US libels, libeling, libeled)
- Law defame by publishing a libel.
- (in admiralty and ecclesiastical law) bring a suit against.
Derivative
Etymology
ME (in the general sense ‘a document, a written statement’): via OFr. from L. libellus, dimin. of liber ‘book’.