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Definition of perpetuate verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

perpetuate

verb
 
/pəˈpetʃueɪt/
 
/pərˈpetʃueɪt/
(formal)
Verb Forms
present simple I / you / we / they perpetuate
 
/pəˈpetʃueɪt/
 
/pərˈpetʃueɪt/
he / she / it perpetuates
 
/pəˈpetʃueɪts/
 
/pərˈpetʃueɪts/
past simple perpetuated
 
/pəˈpetʃueɪtɪd/
 
/pərˈpetʃueɪtɪd/
past participle perpetuated
 
/pəˈpetʃueɪtɪd/
 
/pərˈpetʃueɪtɪd/
-ing form perpetuating
 
/pəˈpetʃueɪtɪŋ/
 
/pərˈpetʃueɪtɪŋ/
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  1. to make something such as a bad situation, a belief, etc. continue for a long time
    • perpetuate something to perpetuate injustice
    • Comics tend to perpetuate the myth that ‘boys don't cry’.
    • perpetuate itself This system perpetuated itself for several centuries.
    Extra Examples
    • Schools tend to perpetuate the myth that boys are better at science than girls.
    • This new law just serves to perpetuate inequality.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb
    • just
    • merely
    • only
    verb + perpetuate
    • help (to)
    • serve to
    • tend to
    See full entry
    Word Originearly 16th cent.: from Latin perpetuat- ‘made permanent’, from the verb perpetuare, from perpetuus ‘continuing throughout’, from perpes, perpet- ‘continuous’.
See perpetuate in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee perpetuate in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
trait
noun
 
 
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