persevere

See also: persévéré, perseveré, and persévère

English

Alternative forms

• perservere (nonstandard)
• persever (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English perseveren, from Old French perseverer, from Latin persevērāre (“to continue steadfastly, persist, persevere”), from perseverus (“very strict or earnest”), from per (“through, by the means of”) + severus (“strict, earnest”). Doublet of perseverate.

Pronunciation

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

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Verb

persevere (third-person singular simple present perseveres, present participle persevering, simple past and past participle persevered)

1. (intransitive) To persist steadfastly in pursuit of an undertaking, task, journey, or goal, even if hindered by distraction, difficulty, obstacles, or discouragement.
   • c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene v]:

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

   • 1817 (date written), [Jane Austen], chapter I, in Persuasion; published in Northanger 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 had persevered in seeking it.

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

     He is a trifle discouraged, but he perseveres.

2. (intransitive, copulative, obsolete) To stay constant; to continue in a certain state; to remain.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus: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: 堅持／坚持 (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(繼續)하다 (ko) (gyesokhada), 꿋꿋하다 (kkutkkuthada)
• Latin: persevērō
• Maori: hohota
• Polish: wytrwać (pl) pf, dotrwać pf
• 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”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “persevere”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “persevere”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• repreeves

Portuguese

Verb

persevere

1. inflection of perseverar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Spanish

Pronunciation

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

Verb

persevere

1. inflection of perseverar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative