Etymologically
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persistence

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /pəˈsɪst(ə)ns/[1]
  • US: /pɚˈsɪstəns/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French persistence, also persistance,[2][3][4] formed from the verb persister, the source of persist,[2][3][5] which is from Latin persistō (“to continue steadfastly”).[6][2] Etymonline instead derives the French noun from the adjective persistant (“lasting, enduring”), from persistēns, the present participle of the Latin verb.[6][4] The verb is formed from per- (“thoroughly”) and sistō (“to cause to stand”),[6][2][7] which the American Heritage Dictionary traces to Proto-Indo-European *stā- (“to stand”).[7] In the 16th century the English word was often spelled persistance; the later spelling followed Late Latin persistentia.[6][3][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The action or fact of persisting in a course, purpose or opinion, especially against opposition: 1546, in J. Bale's First Examinacyon of A. Askewe.[2][5][9]

Semantic evolution

From the start the word named both a firm continuance in a course of action and the quality of being persistent;[2][5] Etymonline notes that it was often used of an obstinate continuance.[2][6] From 1621 it also meant simply continued existence or duration.[2][10] In the 19th century it gained technical senses: in physiology the continuance of a sensation after its stimulus is removed (1853), the familiar persistence of vision,[2][11] and the persistence of light given off by a luminescent body after its source of energy is removed (1862).[2] Etymonline dates the general sense "continuance of an effect after its cause is removed" to 1862.[6]

Timeline

  • 1546 – the action or fact of persisting, especially despite opposition.[2][5]
  • 1621 – continued existence; duration.[2][10]
  • 1853 – in physiology, the continuance of a sensation after the stimulus is removed.[2]
  • 1858 – in physics, conservation (now historical).[2]
  • 1862 – the continuance of an effect after its cause is removed; the afterglow of a luminescent substance.[6][2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The quality of keeping on with something firmly, especially in spite of difficulty or opposition; tenacity: Her persistence finally got the council to repair the bridge.[11][5][2]
  2. The act of persisting; continued effort or existence: the persistence of the drought into a third summer.[11][5][2]
  3. The continuance of an effect after its cause has stopped, as in persistence of vision.[11][2][12]

Word family

  • nonpersistence

Usage notes

Dictionary.com distinguishes it from perseverance, which is usually favourable and suggests steady effort against difficulties: persistence can be favourable or unfavourable and suggests unremitting, sometimes annoying, perseverance.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  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 Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  8. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  10. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  11. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  12. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  13. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House