Synonyms

perpetuate

American

[per-pech-oo-eyt] / pərˈpɛtʃ uˌeɪt /

verb (used with object)

to enable or allow the continuation of into the future; keep alive (used most often in reference to something considered harmful or false): Vines obscured a plaque intended to perpetuate her memory.

Social media played a significant role in perpetuating political divisions.
Vines obscured a plaque intended to perpetuate her memory.
to preserve from extinction or oblivion: perpetuate the species.

to perpetuate one's name;
perpetuate the species.

Synonyms:

sustain, save, preserve, maintain

perpetuate British

/ pəˈpɛtjʊˌeɪt /

verb

(tr) to cause to continue or prevail

to perpetuate misconceptions

"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

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of perpetuate

First recorded in 1520–30; from Latin perpetuātus (past participle of perpetuāre, derivative of perpetuus “uninterrupted”); see perpetual, -ate ¹

Explanation

Some things should last forever and others should not be perpetuated at all. Things that should NOT be perpetuated? Ugly rumors, arms races, and your Aunt Martha's annual fruit cake. Be careful not to confuse perpetuate with perpetrate. Although they differ in spelling by only one letter, they differ greatly in meaning. If you perpetuate something, you help it last. Perpetrate, on the other hand, means to commit a criminal act. Needless to say, you wouldn't want to perpetuate the acts of perpetrators!

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The Alliance Herald says of this measure: “The law should be captioned, ‘A Bill to be entitled an Act to Perpetuate the Frauds which have heretofore been practiced in Alabama.’

From Politics of Alabama by Manning, Joseph C. (Joseph Columbus)

This Monvment was Erected by William Trevill, of Bvtshead, Esq., in the year of ovr Lord 1667, to Perpetuate ye memorie of his Worshipfull Predecessors and Relations here buried.

From The Strife of the Roses and Days of the Tudors in the West by Rogers, William Henry Hamilton

The spring's superb adventure calls His dust athwart the woods to flame; His boundary river's secret falls Perpetuate and repeat his name.

From Hilaire Belloc The Man and His Work by Chesterton, G. K. (Gilbert Keith)

Perpetuate, to preserve from extinction; to continue the memory of a person or event.

From A Catechism of Familiar Things; Their History, and the Events Which Led to Their Discovery. With a Short Explanation of Some of the Principal Natural Phenomena. For the Use of Schools and Families. Enlarged and Revised Edition. by Anonymous

Nor oil upon the waters poured Perpetuate an unjust cause.

From Mountain idylls, and Other Poems by King, Alfred Castner

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023