persecutor

noun

"persecutor" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“persecutor” is uncommon English (frequency #95,261 among 4,417 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#95,261
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A person or thing that persecutes or harasses.

Corpus desk

Index EN-persecutor · persecutor · English

persecutor · rank #95,261 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #95,261
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH Perret

Nearest frequency peer: Perret (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “persecutor”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “persecutor” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for persecutor
PropertyValue
Headwordpersecutor
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters10
Frequency rank#95,261
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “persecutor” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).persecutorfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “Perret” (#95,260), “perspire” (#95,263), “Perino” (#95,258). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “persecutor” is #95,261. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

persecutor is uncommon English at frequency #95,261 among 4,417 “P” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A person or thing that persecutes or harasses.".

No misspelling variants are generated for persecutor in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our dataset records no confusable match here, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English persecutour, from Old French persecutor and Latin persecūtor. Displaced native Old English ēhtere. The correct English form is persecutor, spelled P-E-R-S-E-C-U-T-O-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    A person or thing that persecutes or harasses.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how persecutor appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Live a persecutor, likely die a persecutor.

Etymology

From Middle English persecutour, from Old French persecutor and Latin persecūtor. Displaced native Old English ēhtere.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "persecutor"?
"persecutor" is spelled P-E-R-S-E-C-U-T-O-R.
What does "persecutor" mean?
As a noun, "persecutor" means: A person or thing that persecutes or harasses.
What is the origin of the word "persecutor"?
From Middle English persecutour, from Old French persecutor and Latin persecūtor. Displaced native Old English ēhtere. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "persecutor", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list