English
perpetrate
Perpetrate comes from Latin perpetrātus ‘perpetrated, having been perpetrated’, from perpetrō ‘to carry through’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂- ‘to protect, to ward’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂-1‘to protect, to ward’uncertain
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ph₂tḗr1‘father’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*patēr1‘father’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpater1‘father (male parent)’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpatrō1‘to bring to pass, perform, accomplish’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEperpetrō2as perpetrāre, past participle‘to carry through’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEperpetrātus2‘perpetrated, having been perpetrated’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500perpetrat2‘committed, perpetrated’
- Englishearliest quotation 1867perpetrate2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin perpetro
- 2 Wiktionary, English perpetrate
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1867, Fyodor Dostoyevsky: “What Polina is good for is to fall head…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂-Wiktionary, Latin perpetro‘to protect, to ward’uncertain
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ph₂tḗrWiktionary, Latin perpetro‘father’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*patērWiktionary, Latin perpetro‘father’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpaterWiktionary, Latin perpetro‘father (male parent)’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpatrōWiktionary, Latin perpetro‘to bring to pass, perform, accomplish’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEperpetrōWiktionary, English perpetrateas perpetrāre, past participle‘to carry through’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEperpetrātusWiktionary, English perpetrate‘perpetrated, having been perpetrated’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500perpetratWiktionary, English perpetrate‘committed, perpetrated’
- Englishearliest quotation 1867perpetrateWiktionary, English perpetrate. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1867, Fyodor Dostoyevsky: “What Polina is good for is to fall head…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *peh₂- ‘to protect, to ward’
company, food, pain, feed, apparent, pope, companion, pastor, fur, foster, papal, pasture, fad, accompaniment, fodder, penetration, forage, panini, pav, patrician, fatherly, pantaloons, pannier, 57 more
through Proto-Indo-European *ph₂tḗr ‘father’
through Proto-Italic *patēr ‘father’
through Latin pater ‘father (male parent)’
pattern, papa, patron, padre, paternity, paternal, patrimony, pater, compere, 18 more
Today it means
verb To be guilty of, or responsible for a crime etc; to commit.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “perpetrate”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin perpetro. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *peh₂- / perpetrate