persist, v.
Forms:
15 persiste, 15 persyst, 15 persyste, 15– persist. (Show Less)
Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Etymons: French persister; Latin persistere.
Etymology: < Middle French persister (1321 in Old French; French persister ) or its etymon post-classical Latin persistere to continue steadfastly, to persist (Vetus Latina, Vulgate) < classical Latin per- per- prefix + sistere to cause to stand (see sist v.). Compare Old Occitan, Occitan persistir, Spanish persistir (1427–8), Italian persistere (14th cent.).
1.
a. intr. To continue firmly or obstinately in a state, opinion, purpose, or course of action, esp. despite opposition, setback, or failure. Usually with in. Also (now rare) trans. with infinitive as object.
1531 T. Elyot Bk. named Gouernour i. xvii. sig. Jiijv
Bucephal,..beinge sore wounded, wolde nat suffre the kinge to departe from hym to a nother horse, but persistyng in his furiouse courage, wonderfully continued out the bataile.
1555 R. Eden in tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde Pref. sig. bij
To persist in frowarde stoobbernesse.
1574 A. Golding tr. A. Marlorat Catholike Expos. Reuelation 43
Whosoeuer persisteth in Gods truth to the ende, there is no cause why he should feare the euerlasting death.
1609 Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida ii. ii. 185
Thus to persist In doing wrong, extenuates not wrong.
1668 N. Culpeper & A. Cole tr. J. Walaeus Two Epist.
(new ed.)
in tr. T. Bartholin Anat.
(new ed.)
372
Farewel most learned Bartholine, And persist to love me.
1711 W. King tr. G. Naudé Polit. Considerations Refin'd Politicks iii. 105
The king persisted in his resolution..which was followed by the redoubled complaints of his people.
1779 R. B. Sheridan Verses to Mem. Garrick 7
Can we persist to bid your Sorrows flow..?
1858 Dickens Let. 26 Sept.
(1995)
VIII. 671
They persisted in going to the room last night.
1885 J. B. Patterson Life in Ranks ix. 77
Persisting to argue the point..with some extra intelligent non-commissioned officer.
1948 A. Paton Cry, Beloved Country i. viii. 51
The dogs were fierce and he was afraid, but he persisted.
1993 Campaign Rep.
(Greenpeace)
Mar. 3/1
The Central Association of Timber Exporters in the Amazon..have said they will expel members who persist in predatory logging in Indian reserves.
1531—1993(Hide quotations)
b. intr. With in, †upon. To insist on, to assert or maintain persistently.
1600 T. Nashe Summers Last Will sig. G4
He erres alone, in error that persists.
?a1603 E. Grymeston Miscelanea
(1604)
Ded. sig. A4v
And rapt with ioy, vpon this point persists, That parleing citie neuer long resists.
1650 J. Howell Addit. Lett. xv. 27 in Epistolæ Ho-elianæ
(ed. 2)
The Parlement persists in their first Propositions, and will go nothing less.
1705 J. Browne Secret Hist. Queen Zarah i. 81
He sends for Salopius and Hippolito, both whom persisted in their Innocence.
1742 H. Fielding Joseph Andrews i. xiii. 64
Notwithstanding the Fellow's persisting in his Innocence, the Mob were very busy in searching him.
1774 O. Goldsmith Grecian Hist. II. iii. 256
[Callisthenes] persisted in his innocence to the last.
1812 J. Galt Antonia iii. vii, in Tragedies 207
You then persist still in your innocence?
1848 A. Brontë Tenant of Wildfell Hall I. xiv. 244
Unless I were villain enough..to persist in my own version of the case, and make him out a still greater scoundrel than he was.
1937 Dict. National Biogr. 1922–30 at Herbert Henry Asquith
Asquith persisted in his amendment, and in the division which followed he and 106 other liberals voted for it.
1996 Hartford
(Connecticut)
Courant
(Nexis)
16 Oct. a1
He's obviously very saddened and shocked at the verdict—and persists in his innocence.
1600—1996(Hide quotations)
c. trans. With that-clause or direct speech as object: to continue to say in a firm or obstinate manner, to continue an argument, etc., by saying.
1698 J. Fryer New Acct. E.-India & Persia xiv. 389
The Droger being Master of his Science, persists; What comfort can I reap from your disturbance?
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones II. iv. ix. 66
After many Debates, Molly still persisting that she would not go to Service, it was at length resolved, that Goody Seagrim herself should wait on Miss Western.
1807 R. Southey Lett. from Eng. III. liv. 37
The man observed..that the fairies were never seen now... The man persisted [to the priest],—‘It is no longer ago than last Sunday you read about the Scribes and Pharisees.’
1838 E. Bulwer-Lytton Alice I. i. vi. 47
‘Mr. Aubrey is not severe,’ persisted Evelyn.
1886 T. Hardy Woodlanders iii, in Macmillan's Mag. May 70/2
‘Grace is as well as you or I,’ she declared. But he persisted that she did not see all—that she did not see so much as he.
1905 Punch 8 Mar. 178/1
‘I call him perfectly twee!’ persisted Phyllis.
1923 J. Armour Spell of Inland 109
Ned persisted that he had a very good ear for music.
1982 A. Brookner Providence
(1985)
vi. 76
‘But what about your boyfriend?’ Caroline persisted.
2003 Mirror
(Nexis)
24 June 7
Lauer persisted: ‘Why is there so much fascination on this relationship, is it the 15-year age gap?’
1698—2003(Hide quotations)
2. intr.
a. To remain or continue in existence; to last, endure, be prolonged.
1531 T. Elyot Bk. named Gouernour ii. ix. sig. Riiv
Licurge, to the entent that theffecte of his beneuolence, towarde the commune weale of his countray mought persist and continue.., he dyd let swere al his people, that they shulde chaunge no part of his lawes vntill he were retourned.
1614 J. Norden Labyrinth Mans Life sig. B3v
Who notes how man begins, persists and endes, May see strange chances on which life depends.
1671 J. Sharp Midwives Bk. v. x. 299
If choller persist, Rhubarb powder in conserve of Roses is very good.
1733 J. Bramston Man of Taste 5
Strife still persists, which yields the better goût; Books or the world, the many or the few.
1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. i. xi. 26
The Calyx..Persisting, till the Fruit is come to Maturity.
1795 A. B. Cristall Poet. Sketches 51
The storm with tenfold fury still persists.
1855 R. G. Mayne Expos. Lexicon Med. Sci.
(1860)
Induvialis,..applied by Mirbel, to a calyx when it persists and covers the fruit..induvial.
1866 R. Tate Plain & Easy Acct. Mollusks Great Brit. iv. 147
Bulimus has persisted since the period of..the Upper Eocene.
1898 A. C. Haddon Study of Man p. xxvii
Among the pigmy peoples..we find many infantile characters persisting in the adults.
1902 Cycl. Amer. Hort.: R–Z 1679/1
[Solanum] Pseudo-Capsicum, Linn. Jerusalem Cherry... An old-fashioned plant..grown for its showy berry-like fruits, which persist a long time.
1935 ‘A. Bridge’ Illyrian Spring iv. 48
This tradition of inferiority persists—subtly imposed by the husbands; tacitly and often unconsciously acquiesced in by the wives.
1988 A. Bishop Gentleman Rider xxiv. 201
The Carys' financial worry, though now less pressing, persisted.
2002 New Internationalist May 36/3
The practice of ‘bride kidnapping’ strangers persists in rural areas.
1531—2002(Hide quotations)
†b. To remain or continue in force or effect. Obs.
1539 Act 31 Hen. VIII c. 5
The saide Indenture shall persiste continue and abide..in full strength and vertue.
1539—1539(Hide quotations)
3. intr.
†a. With noun or adjective phrase as complement: to remain ——, continue to be ——. Obs.
1538 T. Elyot Dict.
Obstino, to be obstinate, or persist firme, in one sentence or purpose.
1590 Marlowe Tamburlaine: 2nd Pt. sig. I5v
I will persist a terrour to the world.
1606 P. Holland tr. Suetonius Hist. Twelve Caesars 2
They persisted earnest suiters still for him.
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica vii. xviii. 381
He was able to persist erect upon an oyled planke, and not to bee removed by the force..of three men.
1671 Milton Samson Agonistes 249
But they persisted deaf, and would not seem To count them things worth notice.
1718 Mem. Life J. Kettlewell iii. §86. 409
He persisted Invariable to his Principles.
1724 A. Z. in J. Henley et al. tr. Pliny the Younger Epist. & Panegyrick I. ii. xii. 29
Her Husband..persisting inflexible by her own or her Daughter's Disswasions.
1538—1724(Hide quotations)
b. To remain or continue in a particular state.
1659 H. More Immortality of Soul iii. xiii. §6
A Bullet..cast up into the Air, would never descend again, but would persist in a rectilinear motion.
1722 W. Wollaston Relig. of Nature v. 78
[Matter] will always persist uniformly in its present state, either of rest or motion, if nothing stirs, diverts, accelerates, or stops it.
1873 Manufacturer & Builder July 157
The particles not immediately arrested will attempt to persist in their motion.
1928 Science 16 July 49/1
Newton said..bodies left quite alone must persist in uniform motion.
1986 Osiris 2 75
The fundamental principle of inertia states that bodies naturally persist in uniform motion or at rest.
1659—1986(Hide quotations)
†4. intr. To remain at a particular point, to stop short. Obs. rare.
1563 W. Baldwin et al. Myrrour for Magistrates
(new ed.)
Ld. Hastynges sig. N.v
No where they may persyst But some feare netleth them.
1577 T. Kendall tr. Politianus et al. Flowers of Epigrammes f. 73
Selde Thelesina doeth frequent the Temples of the Priests: And when she comes, she neuer but a pissyng while persists.
1643 Sir T. Browne Religio Medici
(authorized ed.)
i. §18
Those that hold that all things are governed by Fortune, had not erred, had they not persisted there.
1563—1643(Hide quotations)