persecute

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb

To pursue in a manner to do harm or cruelty to; especially, because of the victim's race, sexual identity, or adherence to a particular belief.
To harass with importunity; to pursue with persistent solicitations; to annoy.
To kill many of one species of animal, with the intent of removing them from human habitats.

Pronunciation

/ˈpɝsəkjut/ /ˈpɜːsɪkjuːt/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Mélange a trois-persecute.wav

Word forms

persecute persecutes persecuting persecuted no-table-tags glossary persecutest persecutedst persecuteth persequte persequute

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French persécuter, from Ecclesiastical Latin persecutor, from Latin persequor, persecutus (“follow up, pursue”), from per- (“through”) + sequor (“follow”) (English sequel). Compare prosecute. Cf. also pursue.

Synonyms

Related words

persecution persecutable

Derived words

persecutee persecutingly unpersecuted

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.

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