Abuse/Maltreatment 

Mistreatment/Persecution/Wrong

五个单词均有“虐待”或“滥用”的含义。

其中，abuse为最常用，可指所有诽谤中伤或有害言词或行为，不管是否故意，常用于濫用特权、权力、法律程序、毒品以及虐待儿童、妇女等，如a policeman abusing his authority by searching the house without a warrant，maltreatment和mistreatment十分近义，均指有卑劣动机的行为。相比之下，mistreatment的虐待程度较 maltreatment轻，且其不一定具有身体上的虐待或故意伤害;而 maltreatment则通常以精神上的虐待为主opersecution多指因种族、宗教或信仰等原因而施加的迫害或虐待。wrong主要指在无正当理由或原因的情况下受到不公正或有害的待遇，或自己的权利受到侵犯。

Abuse

n.

滥用，虐待(指身体或精神上的虐待，经常导致精神、情感、性或身体之伤害，等同cruel and abusive treatment)，非礼(或强奸)(妇女)

v.

滥用，辱骂，虐待，损害(物品)，伤害

See: Carnal abuse；child abuse；domestic abuse；elder abuse；emotionalabuse；malicious abuse of legal process; malicious abuse of process；secondary abuse；sexual abuse；spousal abuse

英文释义：

1. To damage(a thing).

2. To depart from legal or reasonable use in dealing with (a person or thing); to misuse.

3. To injure (a person )physically or mentally.

4. In the context of child welfare, to hurt or injure (a child)by maltreatment. 

——Black’s Law Dictionary

Maltreatment

n.

虐待

Com. abuse，手术治疗失误(因外科医生的疏忽、过失、故意等而导致)

P. maltreatment of animals 虐待动物/ maltreatment of family members虐待家庭成员/maltreatment of old people虐待老人/maltreatment of prisoners虐待囚犯/maltreatment of the aged＝maltreatment of old people/maltreatment of women虐待妇女

英文释义：

Bad or cruel treatment whether resulting from ignorance, neglect, or willfulness.

——Black’s Law Dictionary

Mistreatment

n.

虐待

Com. Abuse

英文释义：

the practice of treating (someone or something) badly.

——Black’s Law Dictionary

Persecution

n.

虐待，困扰，迫害

Com. abuse

Q. persecution mania受迫害妄想症(指一种总认为自已会被加害以致处处防备他人的精神疾病)

英文释义：

Violent, cruel, and oppressive treatment directed toward a person or group of personsbecause of their race, religion, sexual orientation, politics,or other beliefs. 

——Black’s Law Dictionary

Wrong

n.

不法行为(指违反法律义务或侵犯他人法定权利的行为，可为侵权或犯罪)过错，冤枉

Com. abuse 

a.

错误的，不当的，过错性的 

v.

冤枉，不公正对待，伤害，虐待，欺骗，勾引，诱奸 

See:  civil wrong; continuing wrong; intentional wrong;legal wrong; moral personal wrong; positive wrong; private wrong; public wrong;real wrong; transitory wrong；willful wrong

英文释义：

Breach of ones legal duty; violation of another’s legal right. 

——Black’s Law Dictionary

（本文转自公众号“律蚁语言服务社”，已获授权）