Persist

How to spell persist

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce persist

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does persist mean?

1. verbTo continue doing something firmly despite difficulty, opposition, or discouragement.
2. verbTo continue to exist or remain in effect over a period of time.

Persist in a sentence

• If you persist with the spelling drills, the results will follow.

• The damp smell will persist until the leak under the sink is fixed.

• She chose to persist with her complaint until the bank issued a refund.

• These symptoms often persist for several weeks after the infection clears.

Where does persist come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes from the Latin persistere, which combined per-, meaning 'through' or 'thoroughly', with sistere, meaning 'to stand firm' or 'to take a stand'. The literal idea was to keep standing in one place, refusing to be moved, which is why the modern sense centres on stubborn continuation. English borrowed it in the early 1500s, most likely by way of the French persister, at a time when many Latin verbs were being pulled into the language. The same sistere root stands behind a whole family of related words such as 'insist', 'resist', 'consist', and 'assist', each describing a different way of standing or being placed. Because the spelling keeps a clean single s after the per-, most writers find it more forgiving than its showier cousins, though the unstressed first syllable can tempt an extra letter.

How the word is built

• per- (through, thoroughly)
• sist (from Latin sistere: to stand, to cause to stand)