persecute

See also: persécuté and persécute

English

Etymology

(deprecated template usage)

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

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɝsəkjut/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

Verb

1. To pursue in a manner to injure, grieve, or afflict; to beset with cruelty or malignity; to harass; especially, to afflict, harass, punish, or put to death for one's race, sexual identity, adherence to a particular religious creed, or mode of worship.

   He who persecutes one will persecute all.

   • 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."

2. To harass with importunity; to pursue with persistent solicitations; to annoy.

Synonyms

• oppress, harass, distress, worry, annoy

Translations

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

• Belarusian: прасле́даваць impf (prasljédavacʹ)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 迫害 (zh) (pòhài)

• Dutch: vervolgen (nl)
• Esperanto: persekuti
• Finnish: vainota (fi)
• French: persécuter (fr)
• German: verfolgen (de), schikanieren (de), bedrängen (de), peinigen (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient: διώκω (diṓkō)

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Japanese: 迫害する (ja) (はくがいする, hakugai suru)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: forfølge (no)

• Portuguese: perseguir (pt)
• Russian: пресле́довать (ru) impf (preslédovatʹ), подверга́ть гоне́ниям impf (podvergátʹ gonénijam)
• Serbo-Croatian: progoniti (sh)
• Spanish: perseguir (es)
• Swahili: kuudhi
• Ukrainian: переслі́дувати impf (pereslíduvaty)

to harass with importunity

• Finnish: ahdistella (fi)
• German: plagen (de), belästigen (de), drangsalieren (de), haschen (de)
• Kannada: ಕಾಡು (kn) (kāḍu)
• Maori: hawene
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• 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: proganjati (sh)

References

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “persecute”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)

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Latin

Participle

(deprecated template usage) persecūte

1. vocative masculine singular of persecūtus