aspersion
/əsˈpɜːʒən/uh-SPUR-zhuhn
/əsˈpɝʒən/uh-SPUR-zhuhn
Meaninga sprinkling on
Common meaning: a damaging remark
- ato, towards, at (Latin ad-, often through French a-)
- spersto scatter, sprinkleLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 1734 · scan
- ionnoun ending: act or result
‘to, towards, at (Latin ad-, often through French a-)’ + ‘to scatter, sprinkle’ → aspersion
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Built on Latin spargō ‘to scatter, sprinkle’.
Did you know: our wording, based on Lewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), entry spargō, p. 1734 · dictionary scan
Roots
- spargō, sparsum Latin “to scatter, sprinkle”
Related words
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