traduced

Traduced is the past tense and past participle of the verb traduce. In modern English, to traduce someone means to speak of them in a false and damaging way, thereby slandering, defaming, or misrepresenting them. The term often appears in formal, literary, or historical contexts and conveys intentional harm through false statements. As a result, a person who has been traduced is said to have been maligned or defamed.

Etymology and sense development: Traduce derives from Latin traducere, meaning “to bring across” or “to lead across,” from trans- “across” and ducere “to lead.” In English, the sense shifted to describe injurious, false accusation rather than any notion of translation. The past participle traduced retains that sense of reputational harm.

Usage notes: Traduced is relatively strong and somewhat archaic or literary in contemporary usage, and it is more likely to be found in historical or rhetorical writing than in everyday speech. It should not be confused with translate, which means to render text from one language to another. Related forms include traduce (present tense), traducer (one who traduces), and traducement or traducement (archaic or literary nouns for calumny or false accusation).

See also: Slander, defamation, calumny, aspersion; traducer; traducement.