Where does “persist” come from?

Persist derives from Middle French persister, from Latin persisto meaning to continue or remain steadfast, formed from Latin per- combined with Proto-Italic sistō, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European steh₂- meaning to stand.

persist (English): To go on stubbornly or resolutely; To repeat an...

Definitions

  1. To go on stubbornly or resolutely; To repeat an...

Ancestry of “persist”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Frenchpersister—
2LatinpersistoI persist, continue steadfastly; I remain
3Latinsistōto cause to stand; to set; to place
4Proto-Italicsistōstand; place
5Proto-Indo-Europeanstísteh₂tito be standing up, to be getting up
6Proto-Indo-Europeansteh₂-to stand

Words derived from “persist”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European steh₂- →Every word from Proto-Indo-European stísteh₂ti →Every word from Proto-Italic sistō →