Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Persecution

Persecution , noun

[French persécution, Latin persecutio.]

1.
The act or practice of persecuting; especially, the infliction of loss, pain, or death for adherence to a particular creed or mode of worship.
Persecution produces no sincere conviction. — Paley
2.
The state or condition of being persecuted. — Locke
3.
A carrying on; prosecution. [Obsolete]