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definitions

perpetrate

[pur-pi-treyt]
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verb (used with object), per·pe·trat·ed, per·pe·trat·ing.

to commit: to perpetrate a crime.
to present, execute, or do in a poor or tasteless manner: Who perpetrated this so-called comedy?

Origin of perpetrate

1540–50; < Latin perpetrātus (past participle of perpetrāre to carry out, execute, perform), equivalent to per- per- + -petr- (combining form of patrāre to father, bring about; see pater) + -ā- theme vowel + -tus past participle suffix; see -ate1
Related formsper·pe·tra·ble [pur-pi-truh-buh l] /ˈpɜr pɪ trə bəl/, adjectiveper·pe·tra·tion, nounper·pe·tra·tor, nounnon·per·pe·tra·tion, nounun·per·pe·trat·ed, adjective
Can be confusedperpetrate perpetuate
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for perpetration

Contemporary Examples of perpetration

Historical Examples of perpetration

  • For the perpetration of the most consummate piece of literary scoundrelism on record.

    Audrey Craven

    May Sinclair

  • What interest could I possibly derive from the perpetration of such a crime?

    Memoirs of the Comtesse du Barry

    Etienne Leon Lamothe-Langon

  • The sacrifice of a right may be as great an evil as the perpetration of a wrong.

    Practical Ethics

    William DeWitt Hyde

  • I suppose after the perpetration of that act of—what shall we call it?

    Roundabout Papers

    William Makepeace Thackeray

  • The conditions which led to its perpetration are narrated later.

    Frenzied Finance

    Thomas W. Lawson

British Dictionary definitions for perpetration

perpetrate

verb

(tr) to perform or be responsible for (a deception, crime, etc)
Derived Formsperpetration, nounperpetrator, noun

Word Origin for perpetrate

C16: from Latin perpetrāre, from per- (thoroughly) + patrāre to perform, perhaps from pater father, leader in the performance of sacred rites

usage

Perpetrate and perpetuate are sometimes confused: he must answer for the crimes he has perpetrated (not perpetuated); the book helped to perpetuate (not perpetrate) some of the myths surrounding his early life
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for perpetration
n.

mid-15c., from Late Latin perpetrationem (nominative perpetratio) "an accomplishing, performing," noun of action from past participle stem of perpetrare "to perform, accomplish" (see perpetrate).

perpetrate

v.

1540s, from Latin perpetratus, past participle of perpetrare "to perform, to accomplish," from per- "completely" + patrare "carry out," originally "bring into existence," from pater "father" (see father (n.)). Earlier in English was perpetren, mid-15c., from Old French perpetrer. Neither good nor bad in Latin, first used in English in statutes, hence its sense of "to perform criminally." Related: Perpetrated; perpetrating.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper