PERSECUTION
Per`se*cu"tion, n. Etym: [F. persécution, L. persecutio.]
1. The act or practice of persecuting; especially, the infliction of loss, pain, or death for adherence to a particular creed or mode of worship. Persecution produces no sincere conviction. Paley.
2. The state or condition of being persecuted. Locke.
3. A carrying on; prosecution. [Obs.]
PERSECUTOR
Per"se*cu`tor, n. Etym: [L.: cf. F. persécuteur.]
Defn: One who persecutes, or harasses. Shak.
PERSECUTRIX
Per"se*cu`trix, n. Etym: [L.]
Defn: A woman who persecutes.
PERSEID
Per"se*id, n. (Astron.)
Defn: One of a group of shooting stars which appear yearly about the 10th of August, and cross the heavens in paths apparently radiating from the constellation Perseus. They are beleived to be fragments once connected with a comet visible in 1862.