Scandal signifies, according to the language of scripture and the casuists, an action or omission that leads those who witness or have knowledge of it to sin.

This word comes from the Greek σκανδαλον or from the Latin scandalum which, according Papias, signifies a quarrel that comes up suddenly: rixa quae subitò inter aliquos scandit vel oritur.

Scandal is active, or given; and passive, or received.

Active or given scandal is the induction to evil on the part of the one who scandalizes. Passive or received scandal is the disadvantageous impression made by a scandal on those in whom it leads to or incites evil.

In scripture and the ecclesiastical authors, scandal is used for anything put in the way of a man which might make him fall. Thus Moses forbade putting a scandal before the blind, that is to say neither a stone nor a log nor anything capable of making him trip, Lev. 19:14.

In morals, we take from this the word scandal to mean an occasion for a fall or sin.

Jesus Christ was, from the standpoint of the Jews, a stumbling block and a scandal, against which they were broken, through their own fault, unwilling to recognize him as the Messiah, despite the proofs that demonstrated it to them.

In familiar language, scandal is an action contrary to good morals or the general opinion of men. It also signifies a disadvantageous rumor, which dishonors someone before the world. In this sense, slander is called "the chronicle of scandal."

Scandal-stone , in Latin lapis scandali or vituperii , was a stone raised in the great gate of the capitol in ancient Rome, on which was carved a lion. All those who went bankrupt and forfeited their goods to their creditors went and sat there nude. They were made to cry aloud, " cedo bona ," or, "I abandon my goods," and then to strike the stone three times with their posteriors. Then it was no longer permitted to trouble them over their debts. This ceremony is rather like that of the bonnet verd , which was once practiced in France in the same circumstance. This stone was called the scandal-stone because those who sat there for bankruptcy were declared to be defamed, intestate, and incapable of offering testimony in matters of justice.

It is said that Julius Caesar invented this form of concession after having abolished the article from the law of the Twelve Tables, which authorized creditors to kill or enslave their debtors, or at least to use corporal punishment against them, but this opinion is not supported by any solid proof.

Scandal of the great , scandalum magnatum , is a term of law, by which is meant an injury or offense done to a considerable individual, such as a prince, prelate, magistrate, or other high officers, by spreading slanders or calumnies against them, from which arise discord and debates between them and those who are their subordinates, to the contempt and often to the detriment of their authority.

Scandalum magnatum is also the term for an order that is obtained in this case to have damages or levies against the calumniator or such other author of the scandal.