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denigrate

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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English

WOTD – 28 June 2009

Etymology

From Latin dēnigrātus, the perfect passive participle of dēnigrō (“to blacken”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from dē + nigrō (“to blacken”) (from niger (“black”)). Cognate with Middle English denigart(e) (“darkened, discolored”).

Pronunciation

Verb

denigrate (third-person singular simple present denigrates, present participle denigrating, simple past and past participle denigrated)

  1. (transitive) To criticise so as to besmirch; traduce, disparage or defame.
    • 1963 January, “Beyond the Channel: U.S.S.R.”, in Modern Railways, page 62:
      Although in public Soviet officials tend to denigrate the French electric locomotives imported recently, there is little doubt that lessons learnt from these engines will be incorporated in new Russian designs.
  2. (transitive) To treat as worthless; belittle, degrade or disparage.
    You have no right to denigrate people and things that you have no personal experience with.
  3. (rare) To blacken.

Derived terms

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Adjective

denigrate (comparative more denigrate, superlative most denigrate)

  1. (botany) Blackened.

References

Anagrams

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Italian

Verb

denigrate

  1. second-person plural present and imperative of denigrare

Anagrams

Spanish

Verb

denigrate

  1. second-person singular voseo imperative of denigrar combined with te

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