Defamation (noun)

1. The act of making a false statement about someone that harms their reputation.
2. The act of damaging someone's reputation by making false or malicious statements about them.

Origin:

Late middle english, from old french diffamation, from latin diffamatio(n-), from diffamare "speak ill of".

Examples:

1. He was charged with defamation for spreading false rumors about his rival.
2. The newspaper was sued for defamation for publishing false information about the celebrity.
3. The company faced a defamation lawsuit for the statement made by its CEO.
4. The politician accused his opponents of defamation by spreading lies about his past.
5. The social media platform faced criticism for not doing enough to prevent defamation on its platform.