Dictionary

self-perpetuating en · ADJ

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *swé? Proto-Indo-European *selbʰ-der. Proto-Germanic *selbaz Old English self Old English self- Middle English self- English self- English perpetuating English self-perpetuating From self- + perpetuating.

Meanings

1. Causing itself to continue to exist.
   • The committee was self-perpetuating: all it did was hold a meeting to decide when the next meeting was, and consume funds to do so.
   • It's a self-perpetuating error, now that we've made it, we can't fix it without breaking things that depend on it.

Forms

Relateds

n (self-perpetuation)