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PERSEVERANCE
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I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The act of persisting or persevering; continuing or repeating behavior
Example:
his perseveration continued to the point where it was no longer appropriate
Synonyms:
perseverance; perseveration; persistence
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("perseverance" is a kind of...):
continuance; continuation (the act of continuing an activity without interruption)
Derivation:
persevere (be persistent, refuse to stop)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Persistent determination
Synonyms:
doggedness; perseverance; persistence; persistency; pertinacity; tenaciousness; tenacity
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("perseverance" is a kind of...):
determination; purpose (the quality of being determined to do or achieve something; firmness of purpose)
Context examples:
To any thing, every thing—to time, chance, circumstance, slow effects, sudden bursts, perseverance and weariness, health and sickness.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
I was surly; but the thing would not go: it stood by me with strange perseverance, and looked and spoke with a sort of authority.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
I would trust to my fidelity and perseverance—and to Dora.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
We continued our systematic survey of the edge of the sodden portion of the moor, and soon our perseverance was gloriously rewarded.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
When any two young people take it into their heads to marry, they are pretty sure by perseverance to carry their point, be they ever so poor, or ever so imprudent, or ever so little likely to be necessary to each other's ultimate comfort.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
In this spirit he began the attack, and by animated perseverance had soon re-established the sort of familiar intercourse, of gallantry, of flirtation, which bounded his views; but in triumphing over the discretion which, though beginning in anger, might have saved them both, he had put himself in the power of feelings on her side more strong than he had supposed.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
With many compliments to them, and much self-gratulation on the prospect of a connection between the houses, he unfolded the matter—to an audience not merely wondering, but incredulous; for Mrs. Bennet, with more perseverance than politeness, protested he must be entirely mistaken; and Lydia, always unguarded and often uncivil, boisterously exclaimed: Good Lord! Sir William, how can you tell such a story?
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
My courage and perseverance were invigorated by these scoffing words; I resolved not to fail in my purpose, and calling on Heaven to support me, I continued with unabated fervour to traverse immense deserts, until the ocean appeared at a distance and formed the utmost boundary of the horizon.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
But perseverance in humility of conduct and messages, in self-condemnation for Robert's offence, and gratitude for the unkindness she was treated with, procured her in time the haughty notice which overcame her by its graciousness, and led soon afterwards, by rapid degrees, to the highest state of affection and influence.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
When the ladies returned to the drawing-room after dinner, Emma found it hardly possible to prevent their making two distinct parties;—with so much perseverance in judging and behaving ill did Mrs. Elton engross Jane Fairfax and slight herself.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
