persecute

See also: persécuté and persécute

English

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.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈpɝsəkjut/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈpɜːsɪkjuːt/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

Verb

persecute (third-person singular simple present persecutes, present participle persecuting, simple past and past participle persecuted)

1. 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.

   He who persecutes one will persecute all.

   • 1563 March 30 (Gregorian calendar), John Foxe, Actes and Monuments of These Latter and Perillous Dayes, […], London: […] Iohn Day, […], →OCLC:

     I have heard, brethren, how sharply Antichrist persecuteth you, in vexing the faithful servants of Christ with divers and strange kinds of afflictions.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 5:44:

     "Do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you."

   • 1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 214, about Halton Holegate:

     One of the village's most notable sons was Thomas Grantham, a Baptist church leader born in 1634, who was persecuted and imprisoned in the struggle for nonconformist beliefs during the reign of Charles II.

2. To harass with importunity; to pursue with persistent solicitations; to annoy.
3. To kill many of one species of animal, with the intent of removing them from human habitats.

   Humans have been persecuting wolves in this forest for centuries.

Conjugation

infinitive	(to) persecute
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	persecute	persecuted
2nd-person singular	persecute, persecutest†	persecuted, persecutedst†
3rd-person singular	persecutes, persecuteth†	persecuted
plural	persecute
subjunctive	persecute	persecuted
imperative	persecute	—
participles	persecuting	persecuted

Conjugation of persecute

^†Archaic or obsolete.

Synonyms

• (beset with cruelty): oppress, harass, distress
• (annoy): see Thesaurus:annoy

Related terms

• persecution
• English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *sekʷ- (3 c, 0 e)

Translations

to pursue in a manner to injure, grieve, or afflict

Albanian: please add this translation if you can Arabic: اِضْطَهَدَ (iḍṭahada) Armenian: հալածել (hy) (halacel) Azerbaijani: təqib etmək, incitmək (az) Belarusian: прасле́даваць impf (prasljédavacʹ) Bulgarian: пресле́двам (bg) impf (preslédvam), поти́скам (bg) impf (potískam) Catalan: perseguir (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 迫害 (zh) (pòhài) Czech: perzekvovat (cs) impf Danish: forfølge Dutch: vervolgen (nl) Esperanto: persekuti Estonian: taga kiusama Finnish: vainota (fi), sortaa (fi) French: persécuter (fr) Georgian: please add this translation if you can German: verfolgen (de), schikanieren (de), bedrängen (de), peinigen (de) Gothic: 𐍅𐍂𐌹𐌺𐌰𐌽 (wrikan) Greek: παρενοχλώ (el) (parenochló), διώκω (el) (dióko) Ancient: διώκω (diṓkō) Haitian Creole: pèsekite Hungarian: üldöz (hu) Indonesian: menganiaya (id) Irish: déan géarleanúint ar Italian: perseguitare (it) Japanese: 迫害する (ja) (はくがいする, hakugai suru) Korean: 핍박하다 (pipbakhada) Lao: ຂົ່ມເຫັງ (lo) (khom heng) Latvian: vajāt Lithuanian: persekioti Macedonian: прогонува impf (progonuva), прогони pf (progoni) Northern Thai: ᨣᩕ᩵ᩣᩴ Norwegian: Bokmål: forfølge (no) Persian: تعقیب کردن (fa) (ta'qib kardan) Polish: prześladować (pl) impf Portuguese: perseguir (pt) Romanian: a persecuta (ro) Russian: пресле́довать (ru) impf (preslédovatʹ), подверга́ть гоне́ниям impf (podvergátʹ gonénijam) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: прого̀нити impf, прога́њати impf Roman: progòniti (sh) impf, progánjati (sh) impf Shan: ၼိၵ်ႈၸၢၵ်ႈ (nīk tsāak), ငႅၼ်းသႄး (ngén sáae) Slovak: perzekvovať impf, prenasledovať impf Slovene: preganjati impf, zasledovati impf Spanish: perseguir (es), cazar (es), proseguir (es) Swahili: kuudhi Swedish: förfölja (sv) Tai Dam: ꪙꪚꪾꪹꪔꪸꪉ (ꞌnạp têng) Thai: ข่มเหง (th) (kòm-hěeng) Turkish: please add this translation if you can Ukrainian: переслі́дувати impf (pereslíduvaty)

to harass with importunity

Bulgarian: доса́ждам (bg) impf (dosáždam) Finnish: ahdistella (fi), riivata (fi) (informal) German: plagen (de), belästigen (de), drangsalieren (de), haschen (de) Kannada: ಕಾಡು (kn) (kāḍu) Maori: hawene Portuguese: perseguir (pt) Russian: докуча́ть (ru) impf (dokučátʹ), надоеда́ть (ru) impf (nadojedátʹ), донима́ть (ru) impf (donimátʹ), досажда́ть (ru) impf (dosaždátʹ), достава́ть (ru) impf (dostavátʹ) (colloquial) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: прого̀нити impf, прога́њати impf Roman: progòniti (sh) impf, progánjati (sh) impf Spanish: importunar (es)

References

• “persecute”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /per.seˈkuː.te/, [pɛrs̠ɛˈkuːt̪ɛ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /per.seˈku.te/, [perseˈkuːt̪e]

Participle

persecūte

1. vocative masculine singular of persecūtus