prosecute

English

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)

(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. M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 56, line 898:
  To acquit themſelves and proſecute their foes
(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 […]
To seek to obtain by legal process.
to prosecute a right or a claim in a court of law
(transitive) To pursue something to the end.
to prosecute a scheme, hope, or claim
- 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?

Derived terms

prosecutable

Translations

To start civil or criminal proceedings against

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)
Swedish: beivra (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

To pursue something to the end

Bulgarian: гоня (bg) (gonja), преследвам (bg) (presledvam)
Catalan: perseguir (ca)
German: betreiben (de), verfolgen (de)
Maori: makawe (mi)
Persian: دنبال کردن (fa) (donbâl kardan)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Anagrams

creeps out, outcreeps

Latin

Participle

prōsecūte

vocative masculine singular of prōsecūtus