persistere
to persist
verb per-SEES-teh-reh Rare
Origin: Latin persistere (per- + sistere, to stand firm)
Also means
to persevere
Usage Note
Persistere takes avere as its auxiliary in compound tenses (ha persistito). It conveys stubborn continuation — persistere nel silenzio means to keep up a silence — and is more formal than continuare. Unlike insistere, it does not require an interlocutor.
Examples
"Il dolore persiste da giorni."
Natural Translation
The pain has persisted for days.
Related Words
Explore Italian by topic
ItalianNow
5 min read