Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1500-1600
Language: Latin
Origin: , past participle of perpetrare 'to achieve something'

perpetrate

 verb
     
per‧pe‧trate [transitive] formal
to do something that is morally wrong or illegal [↪ commit]:
Who could have perpetrated such a dreadful crime?
—perpetration noun [uncountable]
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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