perpetrator 1. A term commonly used by law enforcement officers to designate a person who actually commits a crime. 2. A person who commits a crime or some other harmful act. 3. Someone who produces, performs, or executes something like a crime. 4. Etymology: 'Perpetrator' is from 1570, from Late Latin perpetrator, from Latin perpetrare; a deriv... Found on http://www.wordinfo.info/words/index/info/view_unit/1609/5