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persecute

[pur-si-kyoot]
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verb (used with object), per·se·cut·ed, per·se·cut·ing.
  1. to pursue with harassing or oppressive treatment, especially because of religious or political beliefs, ethnic or racial origin, gender identity, or sexual orientation.
  2. to annoy or trouble persistently.
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Origin of persecute

1400–50; late Middle English; back formation from persecutour persecutor ≪ Late Latin persecūtor orig. prosecutor, equivalent to persecū-, variant stem of persequī to prosecute, pursue closely (see per-, sequence) + -tor -tor
Related formsper·se·cut·ing·ly, adverbper·se·cu·tive, adjectiveper·se·cu·tive·ness, nounper·se·cu·tor, nounper·se·cu·to·ry [pur-si-kyoo-tuh-ree, -kyuh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee] /ˈpɜr sɪˌkyu tə ri, -kyəˌtɔr i, -ˌtoʊr i/, adjectivenon·per·se·cut·ing, adjectivenon·per·se·cu·tive, adjectivenon·per·se·cu·to·ry, adjectiveo·ver·per·se·cute, verb (used with object), o·ver·per·se·cut·ed, o·ver·per·se·cut·ing.un·per·se·cut·ed, adjectiveun·per·se·cut·ing, adjectiveun·per·se·cu·tive, adjective
Can be confusedpersecute prosecute

Synonyms

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1. afflict, torture, torment. 2. worry, badger, vex, bother, pester.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for persecutory

Historical Examples

  • With the next century, however, commenced a more or less determined programme of persecutory repression.

    The Grotesque in Church Art

    T. Tindall Wildridge

  • The paranoiac is now apt to enter fully upon the second or persecutory stage of his mental disorder.

  • After the persecutory stage in paranoia, comes the third, or so-called expansive period of the disease.

  • Indeed, one frequently asks himself whether their persecutory ideas deserve to be endowed with the value of actual delusions.

  • This, the second or persecutory stage of delusional insanity, may persist through life.

British Dictionary definitions for persecutory

persecutory

adjective
  1. involving or characteristic of persecution
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persecute

verb (tr)
  1. to oppress, harass, or maltreat, esp because of race, religion, etc
  2. to bother persistently
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Derived Formspersecutive, adjectivepersecutor, noun

Word Origin

C15: from Old French persecuter, back formation from persecuteur, from Late Latin persecūtor pursuer, from persequī to take vengeance upon
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 persecutory

persecute

v.

mid-15c., "to oppress for the holding of a belief or opinion," from Middle French persécuter "pursue, torment, open legal action" (14c.), from Latin persecutus, past participle of persequi "to pursue" (see persecution). Related: Persecuted; persecuting.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper