disparage

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The Word of the Day for August 4 is: 

disparage   \di-SPAIR-ij\   verb
     1 : to lower in rank or reputation : degrade 
    *2 : to speak slightingly about : belittle 

Example sentence:
     Several respected scientists have disparaged the authors of 
the study for using sloppy methods.

Did you know?
     In Middle English, to "disparage" someone meant causing 
that person to marry someone of inferior rank. "Disparage" 
derives from the Anglo-French "desparager," meaning "to marry 
below one's class." "Desparager," in turn, combines the negative 
prefix "des-" with "parage"("equality" or "lineage"), which 
itself comes from "per," meaning "peer." The original "marriage" 
sense of "disparage" is now obsolete, but a closely-related 
sense ("to lower in rank or reputation") survives in modern 
English. By the 16th century, English speakers (including 
Shakespeare) were also using "disparage" to mean simply "to 
belittle."

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.