prosecute

> persecute and prosecute
persecute and prosecute are liable to be confused. They look and sound rather similar but they mean different things. Persecute means "to treat cruelly, to oppress, to harass", as in "The Christians in ancient Rome were persecuted for their beliefs" and "Some of the pupils persecuted the new boy because he was so different from them". Prosecute means "to take legal action against", as in "He was prosecuted for embezzling money from the company" and "Shoplifters will be prosecuted". It also means "to follow, to continue to be occupied with", as in "prosecute a new line of inquiry" and "prosecute his musical career". This meaning should be restricted to formal contexts.