slander 復習

トランプ政権は、業務における不祥事を理由にFBI前副長官のアンドリュー・マッケイブ氏を解雇しました。

Ex-FBI deputy chief McCabe fired

WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General Jeff Sessions said he has fired former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, a regular target of U.S. President Donald Trump’s anger and criticism, just two days before his scheduled retirement date. McCabe immediately decried the move and suggested it was part of the Trump administration’s “war on the FBI.”
The Friday dismissal was made on the recommendation of FBI disciplinary officials and comes ahead of an inspector general report expected to conclude that McCabe had authorized the release of information to the news media and had not been forthcoming with the watchdog office as it examined the bureau’s handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation.
“The FBI expects every employee to adhere to the highest standards of honesty, integrity, and accountability,” Sessions said in a Friday night statement.
In an extraordinary rebuttal released immediately after the attorney general’s announcement, McCabe said his credibility had been attacked as “part of a larger effort not just to slander me personally” but also the FBI and law enforcement.
以下省略

http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0004310372

今回取り上げる単語はslander /ˈslɑːndə/ です。文脈とpersonallyから判断してはじめは「公私うんぬんなしに、執拗に中傷され続けた」の意味と推測しましたが、実際にはどのような意味があるのでしょうか。

『スーパーアンカー英和辞典』（第五版、学研プラス）では、「（口頭による）中傷、悪口、名誉毀損」、「〜の悪口を言う、中傷する」とあり、形式が文書によるものであればlibelが用いられることが分かりました。本文中に記載のMcCabe said ~ law enforcementに立ち戻ってみると、いわゆる「誹謗中傷」のニュアンスが含まれていることが汲み取れます。語源の由来は、フランス語のescandreやラテン語のescandleにあり、現在の英語でいうところのscandalの意義に相当します。（broccoli）