Etymograph

English

persecute

Persecute comes from Ecclesiastical Latin persecutor ‘pursuer’, from Latin sequor ‘follow’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sekʷ-1‘to follow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sékʷetor1‘to be following’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sekʷōr1‘to follow, come/go after’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsequor2‘follow’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpersequor2‘follow up, pursue’
  6. Ecclesiastical Latinc. 200–1500persecutor2‘pursuer’
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600persécuter2
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1563persecute2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin sequor
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English persecute
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1563, John Foxe: “I have heard, brethren, how sharply Antichrist persecuteth you,…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sekʷ-Wiktionary, Latin sequor‘to follow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sékʷetorWiktionary, Latin sequor‘to be following’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sekʷōrWiktionary, Latin sequor‘to follow, come/go after’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsequorWiktionary, English persecute‘follow’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpersequorWiktionary, English persecute‘follow up, pursue’
  6. Ecclesiastical Latinc. 200–1500persecutorWiktionary, English persecute‘pursuer’
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600persécuterWiktionary, English persecute
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1563persecuteWiktionary, English persecute. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1563, John Foxe: “I have heard, brethren, how sharply Antichrist persecuteth you,…”

The story

Cf. also pursue.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ- ‘to follow’

say, see, social, saw, second, society, sight, executive, subsequent, associate, sue, suite, consequence, saga, consequently, intrinsic, sequential, dissociation, sequestration, extrinsic, dissociate, seg, sequester, 31 more

through Proto-Italic *sekʷōr ‘to follow, come/go after’

pursuit, suitor, 17 more

through Latin sequor ‘follow’

suit, sequence, pursue, sequel, consecutive, prosecution, execute, sect, ensue, consequent, executor, segue, sequitur, 19 more

Today it means

verb To pursue in a manner to do harm or cruelty to; especially, because of the victim's race, sexual identity, or adherence to a particular belief.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “persecute”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin sequor. 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 *sekʷ- / persecute

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