prosecute
pronunciation
How to pronounce prosecute in British English:
UK [ˈprɒsɪkjuːt]
How to pronounce prosecute in American English:
US [ˈprɑːsɪkjuːt]
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- Verb:
- conduct a prosecution in a court of law
- bring a criminal action against (in a trial)
- carry out or participate in an activity; be involved in
Word Origin
- prosecute
- prosecute: [15] If you prosecute someone, etymologically you ‘pursue’ them. The word comes from prōsecūt-, the past participial stem of prōsequī ‘pursue’, a compound verb formed from the prefix prō- ‘forward’ and sequī ‘follow’ (source of English sequal, sequence, etc). The word’s legal application emerged in the late 16th century.=> pursue, sequal, sequence, suit
- prosecute (v.)
- early 15c., "follow up, pursue" (some course or action), from Latin prosecutus, past participle of prosequi "follow after, accompany; chase, pursue; attack, assail, abuse" (see pursue). Meaning "bring to a court of law" is first recorded 1570s. Meaning "go into detail" is from 1530s.
Example
- 1. Instead , the au says africans should prosecute their own tyrants .
- 2. There is a history of different government entities working together to prosecute crimes .
- 3. Mr obama said that he did not want to prosecute those who operated within these rules .
- 4. Some conservatives attacked the show as insidious infidel propaganda , and threatened to prosecute its makers .
- 5. Fraud is often a difficult crime to prosecute , and for which to obtain punitive sentences .