PERSECUTE

persecute, oppress

(verb) cause to suffer; “Some religious groups are persecuted in some countries”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Verb

persecute (third-person singular simple present persecutes, present participle persecuting, simple past and past participle persecuted)

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.

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

Synonyms

• oppress, harass, distress, worry, annoy

Source: Wiktionary


Per"se*cute, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Persecuted; p. pr. & vb. n. Persecuting.] Etym: [F. persécueter, L. persequi, persecutus, to pursue, prosecute; per + sequi to follow, pursue. See Per-, and Second.]

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 adherence to a particular religious creed or mode of worship. Do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you. Matt. v. 44.

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

Syn.

– To oppress; harass; distress; worry; annoy.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

29 June 2024

INITIALISM

(noun) an abbreviation formed from the initial letters of the several words in the name and pronounced separately; “HTML is an initialism for HyperText Markup Language”


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Coffee Trivia

In 1884, Angelo Moriondo of Turin, Italy, demonstrated the first working example of an espresso machine.

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