persecution

Etymology

From Old French persecucion, from Late Latin persecūtio (“chase, pursuit”), from Latin persequor (“follow up, pursue”), from per- (“through”) +‎ sequor (“follow”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

persecution (countable and uncountable, plural persecutions)

1. The act of persecuting.
2. A program or campaign to subjugate or eliminate a specific group of people, often based on race, religion, sexuality, or social beliefs.
   • 2012 March-April, Jan Sapp, “Race Finished”, in American Scientist‎, volume 100, number 2, page 164:

     Few concepts are as emotionally charged as that of race. The word conjures up a mixture of associations—culture, ethnicity, genetics, subjugation, exclusion and persecution. But is the tragic history of efforts to define groups of people by race really a matter of the misuse of science, the abuse of a valid biological concept?