prosecute

English

Alternative forms

• prosequte, prosequute (obsolete)

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin prōsecūtus, perfect participle of prōsequor. Doublet of pursue, from Old French. Compare also persecute.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɹɒsɪkjuːt/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

Verb

prosecute (third-person singular simple present prosecutes, present participle prosecuting, simple past and past participle prosecuted)

1. (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

2. (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 […]

3. To seek to obtain by legal process.

   to prosecute a right or a claim in a court of law

4. (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)‎:

     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

• misprosecute
• nonprosecuted
• overprosecute
• prosecutability
• prosecutable
• prosecutee
• prosecution
• prosecutive
• reprosecute
• unprosecuted

Related terms

English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *sekʷ- (3 c, 0 e)

Translations

To start civil or criminal proceedings against — see also sue,‎ litigate

Chinese: Mandarin: 起訴 / 起诉 (zh) (qǐsù) Finnish: nostaa syyte French: poursuivre en justice German: strafrechtlich verfolgen (law), gerichtlich (de) belangen (law), belangen (de) Japanese: 起訴する (きそ-する, kiso-suru) Maori: hāmene Norman: poursuivre Russian: пресле́довать (ru) impf (preslédovatʹ) Spanish: procesar (es), enjuiciar (es), encausar (es) Swedish: beivra (sv), åklaga (sv), åtala (sv), tilltala (sv) Turkish: kovuşturma açmak (tr) Welsh: erlyn (cy)

To charge, try

Bulgarian: обвинявам (bg) (obvinjavam) Finnish: syyttää (fi) German: anklagen (de), bestrafen (de), vor Gericht stellen Persian: محاکمه کردن (fa) (mohâkeme kardan) Scottish Gaelic: tagair Spanish: procesar (es), enjuiciar (es), encausar (es) Swedish: tilltala (sv), åklaga (sv), åtala (sv)

To pursue something to the end

Bulgarian: гоня (bg) (gonja), преследвам (bg) (presledvam) Catalan: perseguir (ca) Finnish: jatkaa loppuun, tehdä loppuun, suorittaa loppuun German: betreiben (de), verfolgen (de) Maori: makawe (mi) Persian: دنبال کردن (fa) (donbâl kardan) Spanish: proseguir (es), llevar a cabo (es), llevar adelante, llevar a término

Anagrams

• creeps out, outcreeps

Latin

Participle

prōsecūte

1. vocative masculine singular of prōsecūtus