vilipend

English

WOTD – 12 March 2020

Etymology

From Middle English vilipenden (“to treat (something) as contemptible”) [and other forms], from Old French vilipender (modern French vilipender (“to condemn, despise, revile, scorn, vilipend, vilify”)), or its etymon Latin vilipendō, from vīlis (“cheap, inexpensive; base, mean, vile, worthless”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wes- (“to buy, sell”)) + pendō (“to hang, suspend; to weigh, weigh out; (figuratively) to consider, ponder”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pend- (“to stretch”)). The English word is cognate with Italian vilipendere (“to despise, scorn, vilipend”), Portuguese vilipendiar (“to vilify”), Spanish vilipendiar (“to vilify”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈvɪlɪpɛnd/

• Audio (Received Pronunciation):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈvɪləˌpɛnd/
• Hyphenation: vi‧li‧pend

Verb

vilipend (third-person singular simple present vilipends, present participle vilipending, simple past and past participle vilipended)

1. (transitive, dated, formal) To treat (something) as inconsequential or worthless; to despise, to look down on.

   Synonyms: belittle, contemn, misprize, slight

2. (transitive, dated, formal) To express a disparaging opinion of; to slander or vilify.

   Synonyms: abuse, disparage, derogate; see also Thesaurus:defame

   • 1853 July 10, “Evil Birds”, in The Colonist‎^[1], New Zealand: Nelson, page 4:

     But we desire, most unhesitatingly to condemn and vilipend a system of continual abuse, intended to fall upon the provincial Government, but in reality reaching and injuring the public at large.

   • 1917, O. W. Firkins, The Nation‎^[2], The Nation Company, page 176:

     But, for all their feint of nonchalance, these young persons have no other task in life but to explain and extol their own conduct and to vilipend their critics and opponents.

Conjugation

Conjugation of vilipend

infinitive	(to) vilipend
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	vilipend	vilipended
2nd-person singular
3rd-person singular	vilipends, vilipendeth†
plural	vilipend
subjunctive	vilipend	vilipended
imperative	vilipend	—
participles	vilipending	vilipended

^†Archaic or obsolete.

Derived terms

• vilipended (adjective)
• vilipender
• vilipending (adjective, noun)

Related terms

• vilification
• vilifier
• vilify

Translations

to treat (something) as inconsequential or worthless — see also despise

• Bulgarian: подценявам (bg) (podcenjavam), презирам (bg) (preziram)
• Dutch: verachten (nl)
• French: vilipender (fr), mépriser (fr)
• Italian: vilipendere (it)
• Russian: презира́ть (ru) (prezirátʹ)
• Sicilian: vilipènniri

to express a disparaging opinion of — see also disparage,‎ vilify

• Bulgarian: злословя (bg) (zloslovja)
• French: dénigrer (fr)
• Italian: vilipendere (it), diffamare (it), oltraggiare (it)
• Portuguese: vilipendiar (pt)
• Russian: клевета́ть (ru) (klevetátʹ), поро́чить (ru) (poróčitʹ)
• Sicilian: nciuriari, sdillèggiri, vilipènniri
• Spanish: vilipendiar (es)