Learn Greek › B2 › δράστης
δράστης
perpetrator (of a crime) /ˈðras.tis/
nounB2#2473 most common
Also: culprit, offender, wrongdoer
Example sentences
Η αστυνομία ψάχνει τον δράστη.
The police are looking for the perpetrator.
Ο δράστης έκλεψε ένα ποδήλατο.
The perpetrator stole a bicycle.
Κανείς δεν είδε τον δράστη να φεύγει.
No one saw the perpetrator leaving.
Οι δράστες συνελήφθησαν χθες το βράδυ.
The perpetrators were arrested last night.
Η ταυτότητα του δράστη παραμένει άγνωστη μέχρι στιγμής.
The perpetrator's identity remains unknown so far.
Το δικαστήριο έκρινε τον δράστη ένοχο για ανθρωποκτονία εκ προμελέτης.
The court found the perpetrator guilty of premeditated murder.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | ο δράστης | οι δράστες |
| Genitive | του δράστη | των δραστών |
| Accusative | τον δράστη | τους δράστες |
| Vocative | δράστη | δράστες |
Word family
δράω / δρωto act, to do
δράσηaction, activityδραστήριοςactive, energetic
δραστηριότηταactivity, undertakingσυνδράστηςaccomplice
Etymology
δράστης comes from the verb δράω, meaning to do or act, combined with the agent-forming suffix -της, which marks the doer of an action. So the word literally means one who does. Over time its use narrowed to the legal and journalistic sense of the person who commits a crime. This mirrors how English perpetrator, from Latin perpetrare, also started as a general word for doing before narrowing to wrongdoing.
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