blackmail

Meaning

Noun

1. (uncountable) The extortion of money or favors by threats of public accusation, critique, or exposure.
2. (broadly, uncountable) Compromising material that can be used to extort someone.
3. (broadly, uncountable) Compromising material that can be used to extort someone.
4. (archaic, uncountable) A form of protection money (or corn, cattle, etc.) anciently paid, in the north of England and south of Scotland, to the allies of robbers in order to be spared from pillage.
5. (England, historical, uncountable) Black rent; rent paid in corn, meat, or the lowest coin, as opposed to white rent, which was paid in silver.

Verb

1. (transitive) To extort money or favors from (a person) by exciting fears of injury other than bodily harm, such as injury to reputation, distress of mind, false accusation, etc.
2. (Kenya) To speak ill of someone; to defame someone.

Synonyms

extort

extortion

shake down

squeeze

blackjack

extort money

exact

pressure

shakedown

tension

threaten

fraud

hijack

hold up

intimidate

persistent demand

chantage

racketeer

racketeering

sanctify

constrain

sponging

defraud

stiffen

straiten

swindle

take-up

tauten

tense

squeeze for

threat

blackmailing

tighten

tightening

tighten up

exaction

extract

force

frap

Translations

chantage

chantaje

Erpressung

ricatto

ricattare

erpressen

chantajear

chantagem

afpersing

chantagear

εκβιασμός

faire chanter

estorsione

xantatge

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈblæk.ˌmeɪl/

Etymology

Cognate with Middle English: blak rente

In summary

From black + mail (“a piece of money”). Compare Middle English blak rente (“a type of blackmail levied by Irish chieftains”).
The word is variously derived from the tribute paid by English and Scottish border dwellers to border reivers in return for immunity from raids and other harassment. This tribute was paid in goods or labour, in Latin reditus nigri (“black mail”); the opposite is blanche firmes or reditus albi (“white rent”), denoting payment by silver.
McKay derives it from two Scottish Gaelic words blàthaich, pronounced (the th silent) bl-aich, "to protect" and màl (“tribute, payment”). He notes that the practice was common in the Scottish Highlands as well as the Borders.
More likely, from black + Middle English mal, male, maile (“a payment, rent, tribute”), from Old English māl (“speech, contract, agreement, lawsuit, terms, bargaining”), from Old Norse mál (“agreement, speech, lawsuit”); related to Old English mæðel (“meeting, council”), mæl (“speech”), Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐌸𐌻 (maþl, “meeting place”), from Proto-Germanic *maþlą (“gathering, agreement”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *med- (“to give advice, measure”). From the practice of freebooting clan chieftains who ran protection rackets against Scottish farmers. Black from the evil of the practice.
Expanded c. 1826 to any type of extortion money. Compare silver mail (“rent paid in money”) (1590s); buttock mail (“fine imposed for fornication”) (1530s, Scottish).