perseverancia

Forms

perseverancia f (plural perseverancias)^[1] Late 14th- and 15th-century texts write perseuerança, perseuerancia and perseverançia.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin persevērantia (“steadfastness, persistence”).^[3][1][4] The Latin noun is formed on persevērāns, the participle of persevērō (“to persist”), which is made of per- and sevērus (“stern, strict, serious”), properly “to persist in seriousness”.^[4][1][5][6] De Vaan traces the adjective to *seǵh-ur- (“holding”), comparing Ancient Greek ἐχυρός (ekhurós, “strong, secure”).^[7]

Corominas lists it under severo and records it in the Celestina and in Espinel (1616); the BDELC and Segura Munguía date it about 1490, and the CDH has it from the late 14th century.^[8][5][9][2] The same Latin noun is Italian perseveranza and French persévérance.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The CDH's first records are in the translations made for Juan Fernández de Heredia between 1376 and 1396.^[2] His Orosius speaks of la perseuerancia de la lur tardança “the persistence of their delay”, and his Secreto secretorum names la perseuerança de Ieremias “the perseverance of Jeremiah” among the virtues of the saints.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Around 1400 the word belongs to religious prose: Barlaam e Josafat has a chapter on perseverance in the faith of Christ.^[2] Nebrija (1492, c. 1495) distinguished perseverancia en bien, Latin perseverantia, from perseverancia en mal, Latin obstinatio.^[11] In the Americas it is recorded from 1579, in Mexico, of men who fought with great perseverance.^[12]

Autoridades defined it as constancy in something begun and as the lasting duration of a thing, and recorded the theological perseverancia final.^[13] Terreros described it as the Christian virtue that keeps one on the road to salvation.^[14] The Academy's 1899 edition defined it as firmness and constancy in carrying out one's purposes; the DLE now calls it the action and effect of perseverar.^[15][3]

Timeline

• 1376–1396 – the translations made for Juan Fernández de Heredia have perseuerancia and perseuerança.^[2]
• c. 1400 – Barlaam e Josafat speaks of perseverance in the faith.^[2]
• 1492 – Nebrija glosses Latin perseverantia as perseverancia en bien.^[11]
• 1579 – first record in the Americas, in Mexico.^[12]
• 1616 – Espinel uses it.^[8][13]
• 1726–1739 – Autoridades records perseverancia final.^[13]
• 1899 – the Academy defines it as firmness in carrying out one's purposes.^[15]

Meanings

Noun

1. Perseverance, persistence: the action and effect of persevering (perseverar); firmness and constancy in pursuing a purpose: Con perseverancia terminó la carrera.^[3][1][16]

Related words

• perseverar
• perseverante
• severo
• Latin perseverantia

Usage notes

Perseverancia final is the theological term for constancy in virtue and in grace until death.^[3][13]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. perseverancia
3. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. perseverancia
4. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. severo
6. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. s.v. perseverancia
7. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ a b Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 235
9. ^ Segura Munguía, Santiago (2014), Lexicón etimológico y semántico del latín y de las voces actuales que proceden de raíces latinas o griegas, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto, p. 755
10. ^ Segura Munguía, Santiago (2001), Nuevo diccionario etimológico latín-español y de las voces derivadas, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto, p. 557
11. ^ a b Lleal, Coloma (dir.), DICCA-XV: Diccionario del castellano del siglo XV en la Corona de Aragón, Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona, Grup d'Estudis d'Història de la Llengua (GHCL), https://ghcl.ub.edu/diccaxv, p. s.v. perseverancia
12. ^ a b Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. perseverancia
13. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 233
14. ^ Terreros y Pando, Esteban de (1786–1793), Diccionario castellano con las voces de ciencias y artes y sus correspondientes de las tres lenguas francesa, latina e italiana, 4 vols., Madrid: Viuda de Ibarra, p. 3, 108
15. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 770
16. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. perseverancia