Other forms: persecutions
Persecution is cruel treatment of people for their beliefs or their identity. Not one act — a sustained campaign.
The sustained quality is what distinguishes it from discrimination or a single attack, and it is the basis of the legal definition of a refugee, since somebody fleeing persecution has a right to claim asylum. Religious persecution is the oldest kind recorded. The verb is persecute, which is often confused with prosecute, meaning to bring to court, and the two are worth keeping firmly apart. A persecution complex is the belief that you are being singled out when you are not.
1nounpersecutionSustained cruel treatment of a group because of their identity or beliefs.
“The family fled persecution in the 1930s.”
Proto-Indo-European
*sekʷ-
Latin
persequor — follow up, pursue
Ecclesiastical Latin
persecūtio — persecution; chase, pursuit
Old French
persecucion
Middle English
persecucioun
English, today
persecution
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 + sequor. Displaced native ēhtnes.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA