persecute

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
persecute/ˈpɜːsɪkjuːt/

▶verb

• 1 subject to prolonged hostility and ill-treatment.

• 2 persistently harass or annoy.

– derivatives
persecution noun,
persecutor noun,
persecutory adjective.

– origin ME: from OFr. persecuter, from L. persecut-, persequi ‘follow with hostility’.