persecutor
/ˈpɜːsəˌkjuːtə/PUR-suh-kyoo-tur
/ˈpɝsəˌkjutɚ/PUR-suh-kyoo-tur
Meaningone that follows through
Common meaning: a person or thing that persecutes
- perthrough; thoroughly
- secuto follow, come afterLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 1677 · scan
- tverb or noun ending (part of the Latin stem)
- oragent ending: the doer, or the device that does it
‘through’ + ‘to follow, come after’ → persecutor
Journey through time
- Latinsequor, secūtus‘to follow, come after’
- Frenchpersecuter
- Englishpersecute‘to treat cruelly, hounding someone’
- Englishformed in English from persecutepersecutor‘a person or thing that persecutes’ · today
Sources & notes
Inferred source: no dictionary we use has an entry for this exact word. Its history is worked out from closely related, listed words in the same family, and we are trusting that link, so bear that in mind. Inferred meaning: one that follows through. It can be inferred from any of: persecute.
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Formed in English from persecute + -or (inferred: this exact word is not listed in our dictionaries).
Roots
- sequor, secūtus Latin “to follow, come after”
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