persecutor

noun

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

The verdict

“persecutor” is uncommon English (frequency #95,261 among 46,516 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#95,261
frequency rank, English
46,516
“P” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A person or thing that persecutes or harasses.

Key facts for persecutor
PropertyValue
Headwordpersecutor
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters10
Frequency rank#95,261
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “persecutor” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). persecutor lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

persecutor is uncommon English at frequency #95,261 among 46,516 “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.

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.

Using “persecutor”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is P-E-R-S-E-C-U-T-O-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Other uncommon English words near this rank

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list