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persistent - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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

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.

refusing to give up

insistently repetitive

indefinitely continuous

Borrowed from Latin persistentem.

persistent m or f (masculine and feminine plural persistents)

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

persistent

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

persistent

  1. third-person plural future active indicative of persistō

Borrowed from Latin persistentem, perhaps via Italian persistente.

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

  1. persistent