Wordwyrt

persevere

/pəsəˈvɪə/pur-suh-VIR
/pɚsəˈvɪɹ/pur-suh-VIR

Meaningto be stern throughout

Common meaning: to keep on despite difficulty

‘through’ + ‘stern’ → persevere

Journey through time

  1. Latinsevērus, -a, -um‘stern’
  2. Middle Englishpersewerensource
  3. Englishpersevere‘to keep on despite difficulty’ · today

per- also in: percentperceptperfidyperfumeperjury

sever also in: severe

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Latin sevērus ‘stern’.

Did you know: our wording, based on Lewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), entry sevērus, p. 1686 · dictionary scan

Roots

Related words

severe

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