perseverance

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English perseveraunce,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Anglo-Norman parseverance and Middle French perseverance, now persévérance,^[5][6] and partly directly borrowed from Latin persevērantia (“persistence, steadfastness, constancy”).^[2][5] The Latin noun is formed from persevērāns, the present participle of persevērō (“to continue steadfastly, persist”),^[5][3][4] the source of persevere, which is formed from per- and sevērus (“strict, serious”);^[5] Etymonline goes through persevērus (“very strict, earnest”).^[2] Etymonline takes the adjective as probably from Proto-Indo-European *segh- (“to have, hold”), on the notion of steadfastness.^[2] In Old French perseverance meant the continuation of a state of affairs from about 1175, and in the 13th century also steadfast pursuit of an aim and constancy in religious faith;^[5] the Anglo-Norman noun is recorded from 1212.^[7] The Latin word gave also Old Occitan perseverancia, Catalan perseverança, Spanish perseverancia and Italian perseveranza.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Steadfast persistence in a course of action or in pursuit of an aim: 1340, in the Ayenbite.^[5] Etymonline dates the word to the mid-14th century, in the sense "will or ability to persevere, tenacity".^[2]

Semantic evolution

The religious sense came with the word: in post-classical Latin, in the Vulgate, the noun already meant remaining in a state of grace or virtue,^[5] and the Wycliffite Bible of about 1384 used it for continuing in grace or religious faithfulness, which theology narrowed to continuance in a state of grace until death.^[5][8] Late Middle English applied it more widely: Chaucer's Troilus used it of a person's continued life and Lydgate of constancy in love, senses that died out by the 16th century.^[5] Since the early 15th century it has also been used of a thing's lasting or enduring.^[5][2] Johnson (1755) defined it as "persistence in any design or attempt; steadiness in pursuits", noting that it was applied to good and bad aims alike and that it had once been stressed on the second syllable.^[9] The OED calls that stress, which followed the stress of persevere, archaic and regional today.^[5][3]

Timeline

• 1340 – steadfast persistence in a course of action.^[5]
• c. 1384 – continuance in a state of grace or religious faithfulness.^[5]
• before 1413 – of a person, continued life (now obsolete).^[5]
• before 1425 – of a thing, the quality of lasting; continuation.^[5][2]
• before 1439 – constancy, faithfulness in love (obsolete by 1532).^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. Continued, steady effort to do or achieve something in spite of difficulty, failure or opposition; persistence: Years of perseverance finally got the small bakery onto its feet.^[3][8][5]
2. (Christianity) Continuance in a state of grace until death.^[8][5]
3. The quality of lasting or enduring; continuation.^[5]

Word family

• perseverant

Related words

• persevere
• perseverate
• perseveration
• severe

Usage notes

Dictionary.com distinguishes it from its near-synonyms: perseverance is effort kept up in spite of difficulties and is used favourably.^[10] Persistence may be favourable or not and can suggest annoying insistence.^[10] Tenacity is a dogged holding on, also favourable, and pertinacity is mostly unfavourable, an over-insistent tenacity.^[10]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
8. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
10. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House