Emily Dickinson Lexicon

REP-U-TA'TION, n. [Fr. from L. reputatio.]

1. Good name; the credit, honor or character which is derived from a favorable public opinion or esteem. Reputation is a valuable species of property or right, which should never be violated. With the loss of reputation, a man and especially a woman, loses most of the enjoyments of life. The best evidence of reputation is a man's whole life. – Ames.
2. Character by report; in a good or bad sense; as, a man has the reputation of being rich or poor, or of being a thief. – Addison.