perpetrator

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin perpetrātor (“one who carries out something, especially a crime”), recorded in the 4th century,^[2][3][4][5] an agent noun formed with -or from the past participle of perpetrō (“to carry through, perform, accomplish”).^[2][3][4][5] The Latin verb is formed from per- (“thoroughly”) and patrō (“to bring about”),^[3][6][7][8] which comes from pater (“father”): it meant to carry out something as a father would, or originally to bring into existence.^[7][3][6] The OED compares Middle French perpetrateur (c. 1450).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person who commits something, especially a crime or wicked deed: 1570, in Foxe's Actes and Monuments.^[2] Etymonline dates it to the 1560s, literally "the one who did it", in English usually of an evil act.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In Latin the act perpetrated could be good or bad, but the English verb perpetrate was first used in statutes about crime, which gave it its negative sense;^[9] the noun followed, and in English it has nearly always meant the doer of an offence or evil deed.^[3][2] The verb also has a humorous use, recorded from 1823 in Byron, for producing something, especially a work of art, very badly.^[2] Feminine forms were tried in the 19th century: perpetratress (1811, of Nero's poisoner Locusta) and perpetratrix (1862, of Charlotte Corday).^[3] The clipped form perp, an accused criminal, is American;^[10][3] Green's Dictionary of Slang has it from 1889,^[10] the OED from 1968,^[2] and Etymonline calls it 1940s police jargon.^[3] On American campuses perpetrator was also slang, from 1989, for someone who pretends to more standing or popularity than they have.^[10]

Timeline

• 1570 – a person who commits a deed, especially a crime.^[2] Etymonline dates the word to the 1560s.^[3]
• 1811 – the feminine perpetratress.^[3]
• 1862 – the feminine perpetratrix.^[3]
• 1889 – the clipped form perp, in American use.^[10]
• 1989 – US campus slang, a person who pretends to more status than they have.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person who commits a crime or another harmful or wrong act: The police are still looking for the perpetrators of the break-in.^[5][2]

Related words

• perpetrate
• perpetration
• perp
• paternal

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
7. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
9. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b c d e Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com