Perpetrate - perpetuate

Don't confuse the completely different verbs 'to perpetrate' and 'to perpetuate'. They are only one letter apart, so it is easy to mis-type them; and both words exist in English, so your spell-checker will probably not spot the error.

• 'To perpetrate' is 'to commit, to carry out [a wrong deed, crime, misdemeanour, mistake etc]'. The perpetrator of a crime is the criminal responsible.
• 'To perpetuate' is 'to make perpetual', 'to make [something] go on [for ever]'.

Etymological note: OED shows no link between the two words, other than the fact that both come from Latin and contain the intensifying prefix per-. Of perpetrate, it says that is the English form of perpetrāre 'to carry through', 'execute, perform', from per- and the verb patrāre 'to bring to pass', 'to effect'.

Of perpetuate, it says that "Some scholars derive " perpetuate from per- + petere 'to aim at', 'seek', linking it to 'to repeat'. Others link it to perpetī, 'to experience to the full', 'to put up with to the end', or to patī 'to suffer', linking it to 'patient'.