lese-majeste
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\n \n Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 7, 2024 is:\n \n
\n \n\n l\xe8se-majest\xe9 • \\layz-MAJ-uh-stee\\ • noun
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L\xe8se-majest\xe9 (less commonly spelled lese majesty) can refer to a true crime or offense, or to something likened to a crime or offense. Most often, it\u2019s the latter, with l\xe8se-majest\xe9 referring\u2014seriously or playfully\u2014to an act of disrespect that diminishes the dignity or importance of someone or something. In the former use, l\xe8se-majest\xe9 refers to a crime (such as treason) that is committed against a sovereign power, or to an offense that violates the dignity of a ruler as the representative of a sovereign power.
\n\n// Their less-than-formal attire at the wedding was regarded in jest as l\xe8se-majest\xe9.
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"The graphic novelist Posy Simmonds has won the Grand Prix at France's Angoul\xeame International Comics festival\u2014the first time a British artist and author has been awarded the world's most prestigious prize for lifetime achievement in comics. \u2026 "I wanted to take the story of Madame Bovary but update it and it would be my story," she said. "When it was published in French, I was rather frightened. I was worried it would be seen as l\xe8se-majest\xe9 that I had appropriated this great French classic. But they really liked the book, which was wonderful." \u2014 Angelique Chrisafis, The Guardian (London, England), 24 Jan. 2024
\n \n \n\n Did you know?
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L\xe8se-majest\xe9 (or lese majesty, as it is also styled in English publications) came into English by way of Middle French, from the Latin laesa majestas, which literally means "injured majesty." The English term can conceivably cover any offense against a sovereign power or its ruler, from treason to a simple breach of etiquette, but l\xe8se-majest\xe9 has also acquired a more lighthearted or ironic meaning, referring to something that insults or shows disrespect, especially to a particularly pompous or self-important person or organization. As such, it may be applied to a relatively inoffensive act that has been exaggeratedly treated as if it were a great affront.
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