prosecute

English

Etymology

(deprecated template usage)

Borrowed from Latin prōsecūtus, perfect participle of prōsequor. Doublet of pursue, from Old French. Compare also persecute.

Verb

1. (transitive, law) To start criminal proceedings against.

   to prosecute a man for trespass, or for a riot

   • (Can we date this quote by and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     To acquit themselves and prosecute their foes.

2. (transitive, law) To charge, try.
   • 1959, William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch, page 9

     The Vigilante is prosecuted in Federal Court under a lynch bill and winds up in a Federal Nut House specially designed for the containment of ghosts […]

3. To seek to obtain by legal process.

   to prosecute a right or a claim in a court of law

4. (transitive) To pursue something to the end.

   to prosecute a scheme, hope, or claim

   • (Can we date this quote by William Shakespeare and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     I am beloved of beauteous Hermia; / Why should not I, then, prosecute my right?

Derived terms

• prosecutable

Translations

To start civil or criminal proceedings against

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 起訴／起诉 (zh) (qǐsù), 起诉 (zh) (qǐsù)

• Finnish: nostaa syyte
• French: poursuivre en justice
• German: strafrechtlich verfolgen (law), gerichtlich (de) belangen (law), belangen (de)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Japanese: 起訴する (きそ-する, kiso-suru)
• Maori: hāmene
• Norman: poursuivre
• Russian: пресле́довать (ru) impf (preslédovatʹ)
• Spanish: procesar (es)
• Welsh: erlyn (cy)

To charge, try

• Finnish: syyttää (fi)
• German: anklagen (de), bestrafen (de), vor Gericht stellen
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Scottish Gaelic: tagair

To pursue something to the end

• Catalan: perseguir (ca)
• German: betreiben (de), verfolgen (de)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Maori: makawe

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

Anagrams

• creeps out, outcreeps

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Latin

Participle

(deprecated template usage) prōsecūte

1. vocative masculine singular of prōsecūtus