vilipend
To treat (something) as inconsequential or worthless; to despise, to look down on.
dated, transitive
To express a disparaging opinion of; to slander or vilify.
dated, transitive
But we desire, most unhesitatingly to condemn and vilipend a system of continual abuse, intended to fall upon the provincial Government, but in reality reaching and injuring the public at large.
Where it comes from
From Middle English vilipenden (“to treat (something) as contemptible”) [and other forms], from Old French vilipender (modern French vilipender (“to condemn, despise, revile, scorn, vilipend, vilify”)), or its etymon Latin vilipendō, from vīlis (“cheap, inexpensive; base, mean, vile, worthless”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wes- (“to buy, sell”)) + pendō (“to hang, suspend; to weigh, weigh out; (figuratively) to consider, ponder”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pend- (“to stretch”)). The English word is cognate with Italian vilipendere (“to despise, scorn, vilipend”), Portuguese vilipendiar (“to vilify”), Spanish vilipendiar (“to vilify”).
Adapted from the Wiktionary entry vilipend (CC BY-SA 4.0).