persecution

English

Etymology

Equivalent to persecute +‎ -ion. From Middle English persecucioun, from Old French persecucion, from Ecclesiastical Latin persecūtio (“persecution; chase, pursuit”), from Latin persequor (“follow up, pursue”), from per- (“through”) +‎ sequor (“follow”). Displaced native Old English ēhtnes.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌpɝsəˈkjuʃən/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌpɜːsəˈkjuːʃən/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: per‧se‧cu‧tion

Noun

persecution (countable and uncountable, plural persecutions)

1. The act of persecuting, especially a specific group of people; an instance of persecution.
   • 2004 January 1, “The Practices of Wolf Persecution, Protection, and Restoration in Canada and the United States”, in BioScience‎, Oxford University Press:

     During the early 20th century, wolves were considered undesirable. They were subject to persecution and were extirpated from large areas of their original range. With increased environmental awareness in the 1970s, attitudes toward wolves began to change.

   • 2012 March-April, Jan Sapp, “Race Finished”, in American Scientist‎, volume 100, number 2, page 164:

     Few concepts are as emotionally charged as that of race. The word conjures up a mixture of associations—culture, ethnicity, genetics, subjugation, exclusion and persecution. But is the tragic history of efforts to define groups of people by race really a matter of the misuse of science, the abuse of a valid biological concept?

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