prosecute
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Borrowed from Latin prōsecūtus, perfect participle of prōsequor. Doublet of pursue, from Old French. Compare also persecute.
Pronunciation
[edit]- IPA(key): /ˈpɹɒsɪkjuːt/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
Verb
[edit]prosecute (third-person singular simple present prosecutes, present participle prosecuting, simple past and past participle prosecuted)
- (transitive, law) To start criminal proceedings against.
- to prosecute a man for trespass, or for a riot
- 1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […].”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 56, line 898:
- To acquit themſelves and proſecute their foes
- (transitive, law) To charge, try.
- 1962 [1959], William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch, New York: Grove Press, page 8:
- The Vigilante is prosecuted in Federal Court under a lynch bill and winds up in a Federal Nut House specially designed for the containment of ghosts […]
- To seek to obtain by legal process.
- to prosecute a right or a claim in a court of law
- (transitive) To pursue something to the end.
- to prosecute a scheme, hope, or an investigation
- c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:
- I am beloved of beauteous Hermia; / Why should not I, then, prosecute my right?
- 2022 October 22, “Ministry of Home Affairs' Response to Sir Richard Branson's Blog Post on 10 October 2022”, in Ministry of Home Affairs (Singapore)[1]:
- Nor do we believe that a country that prosecuted two wars in China in the 19th century to force the Chinese to accept opium imports has any moral right to lecture Asians on drugs.
Derived terms
[edit]Related terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]To start civil or criminal proceedings against
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To charge, try
To pursue something to the end
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
Anagrams
[edit]Latin
[edit]Participle
[edit]prōsecūte
Categories:
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *sekʷ- (follow)
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *pro-
- English terms borrowed from Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
- English doublets
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
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- English lemmas
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