Lordy, I had the worst time trying to keep track of which was which, and coming up with some really odd spellings between this pair of words — perpetrate and perpetuate!
In fact, I had to believe I had perpetrated a crime in perpetuating this post as long as I did.
So without perpetuating your agony, perpetrate is to commit a crime.
To perpetuate is to prolong or sustain something whether it be memory, misery, or what have you.
Word Confusions…
…started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noir for you from either end.
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| Perpetrate | Perpetuate |
|---|---|
| Credit to: Apple Dictionary.com; Dictionary.com: perpetrate | |
Mimi & Eunice: Thief by Nina Paley is under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons and is courtesy of Mimi and Eunice.com. — To steal someone else’s work is to perpetrate a crime. |
Plaque to Remember Ancestors is Flixtey‘s own work, CC BY-SA 4.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. — I suspect this plaque is intended to perpetuate the memory of ancestors associated with Elmina Castle. |
| Part of Grammar: | |
| Verb, transitive
Third person present verb: perpetrates |
Verb, transitive
Third person present verb: perpetuates |
| To commit a crime
Carry out or commit (a harmful, illegal, or immoral action) To present, execute, or do in a poor or tasteless manner |
To prolong or sustain
Make (something, typically an undesirable situation or an unfounded belief) continue indefinitely
|
| Examples: | |
| A crime has been perpetrated against a sovereign state.
Your son has perpetrated a crime. In many cases, they end up as child soldiers, programmed at a young age to perpetrate violence and acts of terrorism. The gang perpetrated outrages against several citizens. Why should anyone waste their ingenuity perpetrating such vandalism? Who perpetrated this so-called comedy? |
The law perpetuated the interests of the ruling class.
How did these first humans survive to perpetuate the species? As a society, we perpetuate many things from the end of World War II, the Holocaust, 9/11, the war veterans, and more. The stories only serve to perpetuate the legend that the house is haunted. |
| Derivatives: | |
| Adjective: perpetrable Noun: nonperpetration, perpetration, perpetrator |
Adjective: perpetuable, perpetual, unperpetuable Noun: perpetuance, perpetuation, perpetuator |
| History of the Word: | |
| Mid-16th century from the Latin perpetrat- meaning performed, from the verb perpetrare, from per- (to completion) + patrare (bring about). In Latin the act perpetrated might be good or bad.
In English the verb was first used in the statutes referring to crime, hence the negative association. |
Early 16th century, from the Latin perpetuat- meaning made permanent, from the verb perpetuare, which is from perpetuus meaning continuing throughout. |
C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan…which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them…and we’ll all benefit!
Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.
Pinterest Photo Credits:
Mitch McConnell by Gage Skidmore, Peoria, AZ, United States of America, is under the CC BY-SA 2.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons, <https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mitch_McConnell_(5435764016).jpg>. The Costs of Carbon Dioxide Emissions Have Been Underestimated by Robert S. Donovan is under the CC BY 3.0 license and was featured in an article by Ker Than on “Estimated Social Cost of Climate Change Not Accurate, Stanford Scientists Say.” Stanford University News. 12 Jan 2015. <https://news.stanford.edu/2015/01/12/emissions-social-costs-011215/>.
