Etymologically
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perpetuate

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /pəˈpɛt͡ʃʊeɪt/, /-ˈpɛtjueɪt/[1]
  • US: /pɚˈpɛt͡ʃəˌweɪt/[1]

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
  • 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