persecott

persecute (per'sē-kut), v. t.; pret. and pp. per secuted, ppr. persecuting. [F. persécuter = It. perse gui tare, pp. of persequi (> It. perseguire, perse quire = Sp. Pg. perseguir ), follow after, chase, hunt, pursue, seek to obtain, prosecute, LL. persecute, Whiles their enemies reioysing in the victory haue per secuted them flying some one way and some another. Sir T. More , Utopia, tr. by Robinson, ii. 2. To pursue with hara ing or oppre ive treatment; hara or afflict with repeated acts of cruelty or annoyance; injure or afflict persistently; specifically, to afflict, hara , or punish on account of opinions, as for adherence to a particular creed or system of religious principles, or to a mode of worship. Ble ed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Should banded unions persecute Opinion, and induce a time When single thought is civil crime, And individual freedom mute. Mat. v. 11. Tennyson, To J. S. 3. In a weakened sense, to hara or pursue with persistent attentions, solicitations, or other importunities; vex or annoy. = Syn. 2. To oppre , worry, hunt, run down. persecution (per-se-kü'shon), n. [ garded as criminal. To punish a man because he has committed a crime, or because he is believed, though unjustly, to have committed a crime, is not persecution . Macaulay , Hallam's Const. Hist. By persecution I mean the employment of any pains or If they have reason to perscrute the matter. penalties, the administration of any uneasine to body or Borde , Introduction of Knowledge. ( Nares .) mind, in consequence of a man's belief, or with a view to persecute.] A female who persecutes. .. Knox calls her... that Idolatrous and mischievous Mary of the Spaniards bloud, and cruel persecutrix of God's people. Heylin, Hist. Presbyterians, p. 142. ( Davies .)