Dictionary.net

An old French coin, of silver or copper, formerly current to a limited extent in England, and there computed as equivalent to a farthing. LIBEL, v. In admiralty practice. To proceed against by filing a libel; to seize under admiralty process, at the commencement of a suit. Also to defame or injure a person's reputation by a published writing. LIBEL, n. In practice. The initiatory pleading on the part of the plaintiff or com- plainant in an admiralty or ecclesiastical cause, corresponding to the declaration, bill, or complaint. In the Scotch law it is the form of the complaint or ground of the charge on which either a civil action or criminal prosecution takes place. Bell. In torts. That which is written or printed, and published, calculated to injure the character of another by bringing him into ridicule, hatred, or contempt. Palmer v. Con- cord. 48 N. H. 211, 97 Am. Dec. 605; Negley v. Farrow, 60 Md. 175, 45 Am. Rep. 715; Westou v. Weston, 83 App. Div. 520, 82 N. Y. Supp. 351; Collins v. Dispatch Pub. Co., 152 Pa. 1S7, 25 Atl. 540, 34 Am. St. Rep. 636; Hartford v. State, 96 Ind. 463, 49 Am. Rep. 185. Libel is a false and unprivileged publication by writing, printing, picture, effigy, or other fixed representation to the eye which exposes any person to hatred, contempt ridicule, or obloquy, or which causes him to be shunned or avoided, or which has a tendency to Injure him in his occupation. Civ. Code Cal.