ASPERSED
Verb
aspersed
simple past tense and past participle of asperse
Adjective
aspersed (comparative more aspersed, superlative most aspersed)
(heraldry) Having an indefinite number of small charges scattered over the surface.
Anagrams
• preassed, repassed, respades
Source: Wiktionary
As*persed", a.
1. (Her.)
Definition: Having an indefinite number of small charges scattered or
strewed over the surface. Cussans.
2. Bespattered; slandered; calumniated. Motley.
ASPERSE
As*perse", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Aspersed; p. pr. & vb. n. Aspersing.]
Etym: [L. aspersus, p. p. of aspergere to scatter, sprinkle; ad +
spargere to strew. See Sparse.]
1. To sprinkle, as water or dust, upon anybody or anything, or to
besprinkle any one with a liquid or with dust. Heywood.
2. To bespatter with foul reports or false and injurious charges; to
tarnish in point of reputation or good name; to slander or
calumniate; as, to asperse a poet or his writings; to asperse a man's
character.
With blackest crimes aspersed. Cowper.
Syn.
– To slander; defame; detract from; calumniate; vilify.
– To Asperse, Defame, Slander, Calumniate. These words have in
common the idea of falsely assailing the character of another. To
asperse is figuratively to cast upon a character hitherto unsullied
the imputation of blemishes or faults which render it offensive or
loathsome. To defame is to detract from a man's honor and reputation
by charges calculated to load him with infamy. Slander
(etymologically the same as scandal) and calumniate, from the Latin,
have in common the sense of circulating reports to a man's injury
from unworthy or malicious motives. Men asperse their neighbors by
malignant insinuations; they defame by advancing charges to blacken
or sully their fair fame; they slander or calumniate by spreading
injurious reports which are false, or by magnifying slight faults
into serious errors or crimes.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition