persevere

See also:persévéré,perseveré,andpersévère

English

Alternative forms

• perservere(nonstandard)
• persever(obsolete)

Etymology

FromMiddle Englishperseveren,fromOld Frenchperseverer,fromLatinpersevērāre(“to continue steadfastly, persist, persevere”),fromperseverus(“very strict or earnest”),fromper(“through, by the means of”)+severus(“strict, earnest”).Doubletofperseverate.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation)IPA^(key):/ˌpɜːsəˈvɪə/
• (General American)IPA^(key):/ˌpɝ.səˈviɹ/(or nonstandardly with /-sɚ-/, seeperservere)
• Rhymes:-ɪə(ɹ)

• Audio(Southern England):

  (file)

Verb

persevere(third-person singular simple presentperseveres,present participlepersevering,simple past and past participlepersevered)

1. (intransitive)Topersiststeadfastly in pursuit of anundertaking,task,journey,orgoal,even ifhinderedbydistraction,difficulty,obstacles,ordiscouragement.
   • c.1603–1606,William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”,inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies[…](First Folio), London:[…]Isaac Iaggard,andEd[ward]Blount,published1623,→OCLC,[Act III, scene v]:

     I willperseverein
     my course of loyalty, though the conflict be sore
     between that and my blood.

   • 1817(date written), [Jane Austen], chapter I, inPersuasion;published inNorthanger Abbey: And Persuasion.[…],volume(please specify |volume=III or IV),London:John Murray,[…],20 December 1817 (indicated as 1818),→OCLC:

     Sir Walter had sought the acquaintance, and though his overtures had not been met with any warmth, he hadperseveredin seeking it.

   • c.1918,P. G. Wodehouse,The Agonies of Writing a Musical Comedy:

     He is a trifle discouraged, but heperseveres.

2. (intransitive,copulative,obsolete)To stayconstant;tocontinuein a certain state; toremain.

Synonyms

• See alsoThesaurus:persevere

Related terms

• perseverance
• perseverant

Translations

persist steadfastly

• Arabic:please add this translation if you can
• Bulgarian:постоянствам(postojanstvam),упорствам(bg)(uporstvam)
• Catalan:perseverar(ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin:Kiên trì/Kiên trì(zh)(jiānchí)

• Dutch:doorzetten(nl)
• Faroese:halda á
• French:persévérer(fr)
• German:ausdauern,ausharren(de),beharren(de),durchhalten(de),standhaft bleiben,nicht aufgeben
• Gothic:𐌸𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌷𐍅𐌹𐍃𐌰𐌽(þairhwisan)
• Greek:αντέχω(el)(antécho)
• Hungarian:kitart(hu)
• Icelandic:halda ótrauður áfram,seiglast við,láta ekki deigan síga,láta engan bilbug á sér finna
• Italian:perseverare(it)
• Japanese:please add this translation if you can
• Korean:견디다(ko)(gyeondida),계속( tiếp tục )하다(ko)(gyesokhada),꿋꿋하다(kkutkkuthada)
• Latin:persevērō
• Maori:hohota
• Ottoman Turkish:قوغمق(koğmak, kovmak)
• Polish:wytrwać(pl)pf,dotrwaćpf
• Portuguese:perseverar(pt)
• Romanian:persevera(ro),stărui(ro)
• Russian:добива́ться(ru)(dobivátʹsja)
• Scottish Gaelic:lean air,cum ri
• Spanish:perseverar(es)
• Swahili:kudumu
• Swedish:framhärda(sv)
• Turkish:sebat etmek(tr)
• Vietnamese:please add this translation if you can

Further reading

• “persevere”,inWebster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary,Springfield, Mass.:G. & C. Merriam,1913,→OCLC.
• “persevere”,inThe Century Dictionary[…],New York, N.Y.:The Century Co.,1911,→OCLC.
• “persevere”,inOneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• repreeves

Portuguese

Verb

persevere

1. inflection ofperseverar:
   1. first/third-personsingularpresentsubjunctive
   2. third-personsingularimperative

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):/peɾseˈbeɾe/[peɾ.seˈβ̞e.ɾe]
• Rhymes:-eɾe
• Syllabification:per‧se‧ve‧re

Verb

persevere

1. inflection ofperseverar:
   1. first/third-personsingularpresentsubjunctive
   2. third-personsingularimperative