perpetuate

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin perpetuō (“to make perpetual, make permanent”), from its past participial stem,^[2][3][4][5] from perpetuus (“continuous, lasting”),^[2][6][7] the source of perpetual.^[6][4] Etymonline also allows a back-formation from perpetuation.^[7] Perpetuus is from perpes (“lasting”), probably from per (“through”) and the root of petō (“to seek, go to”).^[7] The OED compares Middle French perpétuer (about 1370) and Spanish perpetuar (1402).^[2] An adjective perpetuate, perpetual, is recorded earlier, from 1503.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

To make something last indefinitely, to save it from extinction or oblivion: 1530, in Palsgrave's Lesclarcissement de la langue francoyse.^[2][3] Dictionary.com dates it to 1520–30, and Etymonline to the 1520s.^[8][7]

Semantic evolution

The sense has changed little since the 16th century.^[2][9] Johnson (1755) gave "to make perpetual; to preserve from extinction; to eternize", quoting Addison on medals that perpetuate the glories of a reign.^[9] In recent use it is often applied to keeping alive something unwelcome, such as an idea, a myth or an injustice.^[2][10] From 1726 lawyers spoke of perpetuating testimony, recording evidence that might be lost before a case could be tried.^[2] A rare sense "to extend in time or scope" (before 1620 to 1791) has died out.^[2]

Timeline

• 1503 – adjective perpetuate, perpetual.^[2]
• 1530 – to make perpetual, preserve from oblivion.^[2][3]
• 1726 – in law, to perpetuate testimony.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To cause something to continue or last indefinitely; to keep alive, especially something undesirable: Old textbooks perpetuated the error for decades.^[10][3][2]
2. To preserve from extinction or oblivion: a statue to perpetuate his memory.^[3][2][9]
3. (law) perpetuate testimony: to record evidence that might otherwise be lost before a case comes to trial.^[2]

Word family

• perpetuance
• perpetuator
• perpetuation
• perpetuable
• unperpetuated
• self-perpetuating

Related words

• perpetual
• perpetual motion
• perpetuity
• perpetrate

Usage notes

Perpetuate is sometimes confused with perpetrate, to carry out a crime or deception: one perpetrates a fraud, but perpetuates a myth.^[10]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
7. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
9. ^ a b c Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
10. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins