1) Catty 2) Detraction 3) Disparagement 1) Exclusively Anglo word 2) Exclusively Saxon word 3) Word with Anglo-Saxon origins 4) Word of purely Anglo origin 
Backbiting or tale-bearing is to slander someone in their absence — to bite them behind their back. Originally, backbiting referred to an unsporting attack from the rear in the blood sport of bearbaiting. In the Baha`i Faith, Christian, Islamic and Jewish doctrine, backbiting is considered a sin. The Baha`i leaders condemned it as the worst of.....
• (n.) Secret slander; detraction.
Back'bit`ing noun Secret slander; detraction. « Backbiting , and bearing of false witness. Piers Plowman. »