persistv.
/pəˈsɪst/, U.S. /pərˈsɪst/ 1.
a. intransitive. 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) transitive with infinitive as object.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > decision > perseverance or persistence > persevere or persist [verb (intransitive)]
continuec1340
perseverec1380
stick1447
to rub on1469
to stick unto ——1529
persist1531
to make it tougha1549
whilea1617
subsist1632
to rub along1668
let the world rub1677
dog1692
wade1714
to stem one's course1826
to stick in1853
to hang on1860
to worry along1871
to stay the course1885
slug1943
to slug it out1943
to bash on1950
to soldier on1954
to keep on trucking1972
the mind > will > decision > obstinacy or stubbornness > be or become obstinate or stubborn [verb (intransitive)]
persist1531
to stand in this1538
to make it tougha1549
obdure1609
opiniatre1678
to ride rusty1709
to dig in one's toes1933
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 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida ii. ii. 185 Thus to persist In doing wrong, extenuates not wrong. View more context for this quotation
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 C. 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.
b. intransitive. With in, †upon. To insist on, to assert or maintain persistently.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > statement > insistence or persistence > insist or persist [verb (intransitive)]
perseverec1380
clencha1400
standc1400
to stand to it1549
beat1579
insist1596
hammer1598
consist1600
persist1600
re-enforce1603
to swear pink1956
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.
c. transitive. 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.
ΚΠ
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. View more context for this quotation
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?’
2. † b. intransitive. To remain or continue in force or effect. Obsolete.
a. intransitive. To remain or continue in existence; to last, endure, be prolonged.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > duration > have duration [verb (intransitive)] > endure, remain, persist, or continue
bidec893
lastOE
through-wonOE
ylasta1000
standOE
runOE
lastlOE
beleavec1200
abidec1275
cleavec1275
durec1275
dwell13..
endurec1386
perseverec1390
continuec1400
contunec1400
tarrya1450
remainc1455
perdure?a1475
rest1474
permanec1485
succeed1486
perpetuate1530
persist1531
demur1547
perduratea1558
weara1568
to hold it out1585
to hold out1585
abye1590
contain1592
live1592
perennate1623
to draw overa1700
exist1754
linger1764
to hang it out1939
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.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > change > absence of change, changelessness > lasting quality, permanence > be permanent [verb (intransitive)] > remain, continue
bidec893
ofstandeOE
astandc1000
restOE
holdc1175
dure1297
akeepc1300
lastc1300
arrest1393
containc1400
perseverec1425
reserve1529
to run on1533
to stick by ——1533
persist1538
persist1539
to hold up1582
retaina1631
persist1659
1539 Act 31 Hen. VIII c. 5 The saide Indenture shall persiste continue and abide..in full strength and vertue.
3. † a. intransitive. With noun or adjectival phrase as complement: to remain ——, continue to be ——. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > change > absence of change, changelessness > lasting quality, permanence > be permanent [verb (intransitive)] > remain, continue
bidec893
ofstandeOE
astandc1000
restOE
holdc1175
dure1297
akeepc1300
lastc1300
arrest1393
containc1400
perseverec1425
reserve1529
to run on1533
to stick by ——1533
persist1538
persist1539
to hold up1582
retaina1631
persist1659
the world > movement > absence of movement > [verb (intransitive)] > remain unmoved > resist being moved
persist1646
refuse1879
to stem back1899
1538 T. Elyot Dict. Obstino, to be obstinate, or persist firme, in one sentence or purpose.
1590 C. 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. View more context for this quotation
1671 J. Milton Samson Agonistes 249 But they persisted deaf, and would not seem To count them things worth notice. View more context for this quotation
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.
b. intransitive. To remain or continue in a particular state.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > change > absence of change, changelessness > lasting quality, permanence > be permanent [verb (intransitive)] > remain, continue
bidec893
ofstandeOE
astandc1000
restOE
holdc1175
dure1297
akeepc1300
lastc1300
arrest1393
containc1400
perseverec1425
reserve1529
to run on1533
to stick by ——1533
persist1538
persist1539
to hold up1582
retaina1631
persist1659
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.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > ceasing > cease activity [verb (intransitive)] > stop short in some activity
to break offc1340
persist1563
check1635
to stop short1727
to pull in1780
jib1812
stall1923
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. View more context for this quotation
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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