defacement

Noun

 * 1) An act of defacing; an instance of visibly marring or disfiguring something.
 * Some consider the defacement of the Sphinx to be the most egregious crime of Napolean's campaigns.
 * 1) An act of voiding or devaluing; nullification of the face value.
 * The soldiers found a variety of creative uses for their payment scrip after its defacement to scrap paper; some used it as toilet paper.
 * 1)  A symbol added to a flag or coat of arms to change it or make it different from another.

Usage notes

 * Defacement generally has negative valence (that is, it is a bad thing), except in heraldry, where it is a neutral term.

Synonyms

 * (act of defacing): disfiguration, graffiti, obliteration, vandalism
 * (nullification of face value): cancellation, devaluation

Translations

 * Catalan: desfiguració
 * Finnish:
 * Irish: lot, milleadh


 * Catalan: devaluació
 * Finnish:


 * Finnish: