perpetuate
Syllables: per·pet·u·ate/pəˈpɛt͡ʃʊeɪt/US/pɚˈpɛt͡ʃəˌweɪt/
perpetuate verb: to make (something) perpetual; to make (something) continue for an indefinite time; also, to preserve (something) from extinction or oblivion.
Verb
perpetuate (third-person singular simple present perpetuates, present participle perpetuating, simple past and past participle perpetuated)
- To make (something) perpetual; to make (something) continue for an indefinite time; also, to preserve (something) from extinction or oblivion.
- I am contented to contynue it for my tyme, but to perpetuate it lyeth nat in my power.1530, John Palsgrave, Lesclarcissement
- To the ſupportiue perpetuating of your canonized reputation, vvholie this booke haue I deſtined.1593, Tho[mas] Nashe, “To the Most Honored, and Vertvovs Beavtified Ladie, the Ladie Elizabeth Carey: […]”, in Christs Teares Over Ierusalem. […], London: […] Iames Roberts, and are to be solde by...
- Synonyms:
- eternalize, eternize, immortalize
- To record (the testimony of a witness) which may be lost before a matter comes to trial.
- If vvitneſſes to a diſputable fact are old and infirm, it is very uſual to file a bill to perpetuate the teſtimony of thoſe vvitneſſes, although no ſuit is depending; for, it may be, a man's antagoniſt only vvaits for the death of ſome of them to begin his ſuit. This is moſt frequent vvhen lands...1768, William Blackstone, “Of Proceedings in the Courts of Equity”, in Commentaries on the Laws of England, book III (Of Private Wrongs), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 450
- It appears to me that this bill makes out no case for perpetuating testimony. Although it was true that the validity of the will could not, by reason of the lease, be immediately tried with the devises in trust, yet it may be immediately tried by an action for rent against the tenant. Testimony can...1822 December 17, John Leach, Vice-Chancellor, “Dew v. Clarke”, in The English Reports, volume LVII (Vice-Chancellor’s Court, volume II), Edinburgh: William Green & Sons; London: Stevens & Sons...
- To prolong the existence of (something) by repetition; to reinforce.
- He who praiseth obscurity perpetuateth it.1852, Moses Stuart, “Introduction”, in A Commentary on the Book of Proverbs, New York, N.Y.: M. W. Dodd, […], →OCLC, § 17 (Specimen of Arabic Proverbs), paragraph 64, page 116
- [T]he major players […] have the most to either gain from perpetuating the lie to morally or ethically acknowledge the wrong of their actions.2010, Rodney Lee Smith, “The Twenty-one Principles of a Lie”, in The 21 Principles of a Lie: The Logic of the Illogical, Mustang, Okla.: Tate Publishing & Enterprises, →ISBN, page 169
- Synonyms:
- continue
Adjective
perpetuate
- Perpetual, or made perpetual; continued for an indefinite time.
- The wele suertie and comfort perpetuat of theym ther heires and successours.1503-1504, “32, Preambule”, in Act 19, Henry VII
- The trees and flowers remain / By Nature's care perpetuate and self-sown.1801, Robert Southey, “The First Book”, in Thalaba the Destroyer, volume I, London: […] [F]or T[homas] N[orton] Longman and O[wen] Rees, […], by Biggs and Cottle, […], →OCLC, page 24
- Synonyms:
- ageful, agelong, amaranthine, celestial, endless, enduring, eternal, eterne, everduring, evergreen
perpetuate meaning in Urdu, Bengali, Malayalam and Kannada
perpetuate in Urdu
- جاری رکھنا, جاوداں بنانا, زندہ رکھنا
perpetuate in Bengali
- স্থায়ী করা, চিরস্থায়ী করা
perpetuate in Malayalam
- ശാശ്വതമാക്കുക, നിലനിറുത്തുക, ചെയ്തുകൊണ്ടിരിക്കുക, പ്രതിഷ്ഠ നൽകുക
perpetuate in Kannada
- ಶಾಶ್ವತಗೊಳಿಸು, ಚಿರಸ್ಮರಣೀಯಗೊಳಿಸು, ಅಮರವಾಗಿಸು, ಅವಿಸ್ಮರಣೀಯವೆನಿಸು
More languagesFewer languages
- perpetuate in Arabic
- أَبَّدَ ʔabbada, أَدَامَ ʔadāma, خَلَّدَ ḵallada
- perpetuate in Vietnamese
- nối
Examples of perpetuate in a sentence
- I am very well pleased with a medal which was struck by Queen Elizabeth, a little after the defeat of the invincible armada, to perpetuate the memory of that extraordinary event.1712 February 15 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison], “MONDAY, February 5, 1711–1712”, in The Spectator, number 293; republished in...
- Thou know'st, who by thy light upliftedst me, / When the revolvement, thou perpetuatest, / Desired One, attentive made me through / The harmony, thou blend'st and alternatest.1854, Dante [Alighieri], “Canto I”, in C[harles] B[agot] Cayley, transl., Dante’s Divine Comedy. The Paradise: Translated in the Original...
- Testimony can be perpetuated only where by no means the Plaintiff can presently assert his title to the property.1822 December 17, John Leach, Vice-Chancellor, “Dew v. Clarke”, in The English Reports, volume LVII (Vice-Chancellor’s Court, volume II)...
- To be perpetuate for my mightiness / Sculpture must image me when I am gone.1922, Thomas Hardy, “The Children and Sir Nameless”, in Late Lyrics and Earlier with Many Other Verses, London: Macmillan and Co., […]...
Synonyms of perpetuate
21 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Antonyms
10 more antonymsFewer antonyms
Forms of perpetuate
| third-person singular present | perpetuates |
|---|---|
| present participle | perpetuating |
| past participle | perpetuated |
| past | perpetuated |
| second-person singular present (archaic) | perpetuatest |
| second-person singular past (archaic) | perpetuatedst |
| third-person singular present (archaic) | perpetuateth |
Origin of perpetuate
(16th century) From earlier perpetuat, learned borrowing from Latin perpetuātus (“perpetuated”), perfect passive participle of perpetuō (“to cause to continue uninterruptedly, to proceed with continually, to make perpetual, perpetuate”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from perpetuus (“everlasting, perpetual”) + -ō (first conjugation verb-forming suffix), from per- (“thoroughly, very”) + petō (“to ask, request; to look for; to make for (somewhere)”) + -uus (forms adjectives from verbal stems), literally “that is asked with great zeal, over and over again”, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peth₂- (“to spread out; to fly”). Cognates * Catalan perpetuar * Italian perpetuare * Old French perpetué (adjective) (Middle French perpetué (adjective)); Middle French perpétuer (verb) (modern French perpétuer (verb)) * Old Occitan perpetuar * Portuguese perpetuar * Spanish perpetuar
From earlier preparat (see Etymology 1 and -ate (adjective-forming suffix) for more).
Words formed from perpetuate
Questions about perpetuate
- What does perpetuate mean?
- Perpetuate means to make (something) perpetual; to make (something) continue for an indefinite time; also, to preserve (something) from extinction or oblivion.
- What is perpetuate in Urdu?
- Perpetuate in Urdu is جاری رکھنا, جاوداں بنانا, زندہ رکھنا. See Perpetuate meaning in Urdu.
- How do you use perpetuate in a sentence?
- I am very well pleased with a medal which was struck by Queen Elizabeth, a little after the defeat of the invincible armada, to perpetuate the memory of that extraordinary event.
- What part of speech is perpetuate?
- Perpetuate can be a verb or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce perpetuate?
- Perpetuate is pronounced /pəˈpɛt͡ʃʊeɪt/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of perpetuate?
- The past tense of perpetuate is perpetuated.
Words near perpetuate in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: perpetuate (page history and authors); perpetuate (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); Perpetuate (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); perpetuate (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); perpetuate (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-perpetuate.wav.
Cite this entry: “perpetuate.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/perpetuate. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.