persistent

English

Etymology

From Latin persistentem, present participle of persistō (“continue steadfastly”). By surface analysis, persist +‎ -ent.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /pɚˈsɪstənt/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /pəˈsɪstənt/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: per‧sis‧tent

Adjective

persistent (comparative more persistent, superlative most persistent)

1. Obstinately refusing to give up or let go.

   She has had a persistent cough for weeks.

   • 2011 November 10, Jeremy Wilson, “England Under 21 5 Iceland Under 21 0: match report”, in Telegraph‎^[1]:

     The most persistent tormentor was Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who scored a hat-trick in last month’s corresponding fixture in Iceland. His ability to run at defences is instantly striking, but it is his clever use of possession that has persuaded some shrewd judges that he is an even better prospect than Theo Walcott.

3. Insistently repetitive.

   There was a persistent knocking on the door.

4. Indefinitely continuous.

   There have been persistent rumours for years.

   • 2025 August 13, Müjdat Erarkadaş, Kübra Özmeral Erarkadaş, Şahika Gülen Şişmanlar, “Autism Spectrum Disorder Beyond Childhood: A Comprehensive Assessment of Activities of Daily Living and Social Functioning in Turkish Adults”, in Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders‎^[2], →DOI:

     Although many individuals seek meaningful social connection, they face persistent barriers to sustaining relationships, including communication difficulties, social rejection, loneliness, and limited social opportunities (Elmose, 2019; Mendelson et al., 2016; Sosnowy et al., 2019). The gap between social motivation and real-life opportunities for social interaction may contribute to persistent social isolation in this population.

5. (botany) Lasting past maturity without falling off.

   Pine cones have persistent scales.

   • 1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page 4:

     The Jubulaceae have a leaf whose lobule, usually transformed into a water-sac, is normally very narrowly attached to the stem and to the dorsal lobe; indeed some Frullania taxa reproduce vegetatively by dropping the dorsal lobes, but not the lobules, and Neohattoria has caducous lobules but persistent lobes.

6. (computing) Of data or a data structure: not transient or temporary, but remaining in existence after the termination of the program that creates it.

   Once written to a disk file, the data becomes persistent: it will still be there tomorrow when we run the next program.

7. (mathematics) Describing a fractal process that has a positive Brown function
8. (mathematics, stochastic processes, of a state) non-transient.

Derived terms

• antipersistent
• biopersistent
• hyperpersistent
• impersistent
• non-null persistent
• nonpersistent
• null persistent
• persistent adrenarche syndrome
• persistent cloaca
• persistent cookie
• persistent cross-site scripting
• persistent depressive disorder
• persistent genital arousal disorder
• persistent organic pollutant
• persistent sexual arousal syndrome
• persistent truncus arteriosus
• persistent vegetative state
• semipersistent

Related terms

• persist
• persistence
• persistency
• persistently

Translations

refusing to give up

• Belarusian: насто́йлівы (be) (nastójlivy)
• Bulgarian: постоя́нен (bg) (postojánen), упори́т (bg) (uporít)
• Catalan: persistent
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 持續的 / 持续的 (zh) (chíxù de), 固執的 / 固执的 (zh) (gùzhí de), 頑固的 / 顽固的 (zh) (wángù de)

• Dutch: volhardend (nl)
• Esperanto: persista
• Finnish: sitkeä (fi), sinnikäs (fi)
• French: persistant (fr), tenace (fr)
• Galician: persistente (gl), teimudo (gl)
• German: ausdauernd (de), hartnäckig (de), beharrlich (de)
• Greek: επίμονος (el) (epímonos)
• Hebrew: עקשן (he) (akshán)
• Hungarian: kitartó (hu), állhatatos (hu)
• Italian: tenace (it), insistente (it), durevole (it)
• Japanese: 頑固な (ja) (がんこ, ganko), 固執した (ja) (こしつした, koshitsu shita), 不屈の (ja) (ふくつの, fukutsu no), しつこい (ja) (shitsukoi)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: بەردەوام بوون (berdewam bûn)

• Latin: pervicax
• Macedonian: у́порен (úporen), и́страен (ístraen), на́стојчив (nástojčiv), по́стојан (póstojan)
• Maori: aumou, pakepake, ngana, pikoni, pūnoke
• Middle English: dregh
• Ottoman Turkish: یاپشقان (yapışkan)
• Polish: uporczywy (pl), bezustanny (pl), ciągły (pl), wytrwały (pl)
• Portuguese: persistente (pt)
• Russian: насто́йчивый (ru) (nastójčivyj), упо́рный (ru) (upórnyj), неотсту́пный (ru) (neotstúpnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: leanmhainneach, leanailteach
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: у̏по̄ран

  Roman: ȕpōran (sh)

• Spanish: persistente (es)
• Ukrainian: настійний (nastijnyj), насті́йливий (nastíjlyvyj)
• Vietnamese: kiên trì (vi) (堅持), dai dẳng (vi)

insistently repetitive

• Bulgarian: постоя́нен (bg) (postojánen)
• Finnish: jatkuva (fi), itsepintainen (fi), sinnikäs (fi)
• German: beharrlich (de), unaufhörlich (de)
• Greek: επίμονος (el) (epímonos)
• Hebrew: מתמיד (he) (matmíd)
• Italian: insistente (it), incessante (it)
• Japanese: しつこい (ja) (shitsukoi), 執拗な (ja) (しつような, shitsuyō na)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: بەردەوام بوون (berdewam bûn)

• Macedonian: на́стојчив (nástojčiv), по́стојан (póstojan)
• Polish: bezustanny (pl), uporczywy (pl)
• Russian: насто́йчивый (ru) (nastójčivyj), постоя́нный (ru) (postojánnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: leanmhainneach, leanailteach

indefinitely continuous

• Bulgarian: постоя́нен (bg) (postojánen)
• Dutch: hardnekkig (nl)
• Finnish: jatkuva (fi), toistuva (fi)
• German: ständig (de), anhaltend (de), andauernd (de), hartnäckig (de)
• Italian: continuo (it)
• Japanese: 長引く (ja) (nagabiku), じぞくせいの, 持続性の (jizokusei no), いつまでも続く (itsumademo tsudzuku)
• Latin: iūgis
• Macedonian: по́стојан (póstojan)
• Maori: niwaniwa
• Middle English: dregh
• Polish: ciągły (pl), nieustanny (pl)
• Russian: постоя́нный (ru) (postojánnyj), усто́йчивый (ru) (ustójčivyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: leanailteach

botany: lasting past maturity without falling off

• Bulgarian: неопадащ (neopadašt)
• Finnish: pysyvä (fi)
• German: persistierend (de), dauerhaft (de), beständig (de)
• Italian: persistente (it)
• Macedonian: и́здржлив (ízdržliv)
• Russian: сто́йкий (ru) (stójkij)

computing: existing after the execution of the program

• Finnish: pysyvä (fi)
• German: dauerhaft (de)
• Italian: persistente (it)
• Macedonian: по́стојан (póstojan)
• Polish: trwały (pl)
• Russian: постоя́нный (ru) (postojánnyj)

math: non-transient

• Bulgarian: непеходен (nepehoden)
• Finnish: pysyvä (fi)
• Hebrew: נשנה (nishné)

Anagrams

• pin setters, pin-setters, pinsetters, presentist, prettiness, serpentist

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin persistentem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [pər.sisˈten]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [pər.sisˈtent]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [peɾ.sisˈtent]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Adjective

persistent m or f (masculine and feminine plural persistents)

1. persistent

Derived terms

• persistentment

Related terms

• persistència
• persistir

References

• “persistent” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Further reading

• “persistent”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “persistent”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “persistent” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.

French

Pronunciation

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

• Homophones: persiste, persistes

Verb

persistent

1. third-person plural present indicative/subjunctive of persister

Latin

Verb

persistent

1. third-person plural future active indicative of persistō

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin persistentem, perhaps via Italian persistente.

Adjective

persistent m or n (feminine singular persistentă, masculine plural persistenți, feminine/neuter plural persistente)

1. persistent

Declension

Declension of persistent

		singular				plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine		masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	persistent		persistentă		persistenți	persistente
	definite	persistentul		persistenta		persistenții	persistentele
genitive- dative	indefinite	persistent		persistente		persistenți	persistente
	definite	persistentului		persistentei		persistenților	persistentelor