Blaspheme comes from Late Latin blasphēmāre, from Ancient Greek blasphēmein ('to speak ill, slander, blaspheme'), from blasphēmos ('speaking evil'). The historical trail runs through blasphēmein in Ancient Greek. Used as a verb, blaspheme now means "speak irreverently or profanely about God or sacred things", so the present definition can be read against the older forms and meanings. The same lexical family is also visible in derived forms such as blasphemer, blasphemy, and blasphemous and related forms such as blasphemy, blasphemous, and blame. The result is a borrowed or transmitted form whose modern spelling carries a compact record of its route into English.