Liʹbel

means a little book (Latin, libellus). A lampoon, a satire, or any defamatory writings. Originally it meant a plaintiff’s statement of his case, which usually “defames” the defendant.

The greater the truth, the greater the libel. The dictum of William Murray, Earl of Mansfield (1704–1793).

“Dost not know that old Mansfield, who writes like the Bible,

Says: ‘The more ʹtis a truth, sir, the more ʹtis a libelʹ?”

Burus.

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.