The story
- Latin · derived frompersevērāre“to continue steadfastly, persist, persevere”
- Old French · derived fromperseverer
- Middle English · inherited fromperseveren
- English todaypersevere
From Middle English perseveren, from Old French perseverer, from Latin persevērāre (“to continue steadfastly, persist, persevere”), from perseverus (“very strict or earnest”), from per (“through, by the means of”) + severus (“strict, earnest”). Doublet of perseverate.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.