The etymological origin of the term insult that concerns us now is found in Latin. Specifically, it derives from the word “iniuria”, which can be translated as “affront against the law” and which is the result of the sum of three lexical components of said language:
-The prefix “in-”, which can be translated as “no” or “without”.
-The noun “ius, iuris”, which is equivalent to “right”.
-The suffix “-ia”, which is used to indicate “quality”.
The concept is used to refer to an offense or insult that outrages the good name or honor of an individual.
For example: “I will not allow you to utter such an insult in my house!” , “I am tired of my neighbor's insults” , “The singer demanded that the journalist retract the insult or else he will sue him” .
In addition to the words that we have already indicated, there are others that can also be used as synonyms of insult. We are referring to injury, outrage, vexation, affront, prejudice, damage, impairment or even deterioration.
On the contrary, among its antonyms we find terms such as flattery, compliment, praise, exaltation, commendation, compliment, flattery or praise, among others.
In the field of law , libel is understood as a crime that involves the imputation to a person of conduct or an event that affects their esteem or reputation . Although the classification depends on each legislation, at a general level it can be said that an insult is an expression that causes the dishonor of another subject.
Due to the characteristics of the notion, the definition of libel at the legal level is complex. What can be considered insult is subjective and depends on the context, the time, etc. The premise is that all human beings have the right to be respected; Insult is a violation of that right since it damages reputation.
In different legal systems, insult appears as an action that undermines dignity , offends honor or damages decorum . Anyone who feels victimized by an action of this type can go to court to report the insult.
In Spain, both the crime of libel and the crime of slander are included in the Penal Code. Sometimes the two are often confused, but it must be clear that they are not the same. Thus, while libel occurs when someone makes a dishonorable accusation against another, slander occurs when a person falsely imputes to another what is a punishable act.
To understand it better, a crime of libel could be publicly exposing that a person practices prostitution without any type of evidence and with the aim of offending them. On the other hand, a crime of slander would occur when an employee of a company accuses another of stealing material from the same, that is, he accuses him of a crime of misappropriation.
Beyond the judicial, the idea of injury is also used to name the discomfort or harm caused by something, according to what is indicated by the Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ) in its dictionary .