Adjacent Words

Perseverance definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PERSEVE'RANCE, n. [L. perseverantia. See Persevere.]
1. Persistence in any thing undertaken; continued pursuit or prosecution of any business or enterprise begun; applied alike to good or evil.
Perseverance keeps honor bright.
Patience and perseverance overcome the greatest difficulties.
2. In theology, continuance in a state of grace to a state of glory; sometimes called final perseverance.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: persistent determination [syn: doggedness, perseverance, persistence, persistency, tenacity, tenaciousness, pertinacity]
2: the act of persisting or persevering; continuing or repeating behavior; "his perseveration continued to the point where it was no longer appropriate" [syn: perseverance, persistence, perseveration]

Merriam Webster's

noun Date: 14th century the action or condition or an instance of persevering ; steadfastness

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 the steadfast pursuit of an objective. 2 (often foll. by in) constant persistence (in a belief etc.). Etymology: ME f. OF f. L perseverantia (as PERSEVERE)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Perseverance Per`se*ver"ance, n. [F. pers['e]v['e]rance, L. perseverantia.] 1. The act of persevering; persistence in anything undertaken; continued pursuit or prosecution of any business, or enterprise begun. ``The king-becoming graces . . . perseverance, mercy, lowliness.'' --Shak. Whose constant perseverance overcame Whate'er his cruel malice could invent. --Milton. 2. Discrimination. [Obs.] --Sir J. Harrington. 3. (Theol.) Continuance in a state of grace until it is succeeded by a state of glory; sometimes called final perseverance, and the perseverance of the saints. See Calvinism. Syn: Persistence; steadfastness; constancy; steadiness; pertinacity.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Perseverance is the quality of continuing with something even though it is difficult. = persistence

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

pur-se-ver'-ans: The word occurs only once in the King James Version (Eph 6:18), where it refers quite simply to persistence in prayer. In theology (especially in the phrase "final perseverance") the word has come to denote a special persistency, the undying continuance of the new life (manifested in faith and holiness) given by the Spirit of God to man. It is questioned whether such imparted life is (by its nature, or by the law of its impartation) necessarily permanent indestructible so that the once regenerate and believing man has the prospect of final glory infallibly assured. This is not the place to trace the history of a great and complex debate. It is more fitting here to point to the problem as connected with that supreme class of truths in which, because of our necessary mental limits, the entire truth can only be apprehended as the unrevealed but certain harmony of seeming contradictions. Scripture on the one hand abounds with assurances of "perseverance" as a fact, and largely intimates that an exulting anticipation of it is the intended experience of the believer (see Joh 10:28 above all, and compare among other passages Ro 8:31-37; 1Pe 1:8,9). On the other hand, we find frequent and urgent warnings and cautions (see e.g. 1Co 8:11; 9:27). The teacher dealing with actual cases, as in pastoral work, should be ready to adopt both classes of utterances, each with its proper application; applying the first, e.g., to the true but timid disciple, the latter to the self-confident. Meanwhile Scripture on the whole, by the manner and weight of its positive statements, favors a humble belief of the permanence, in the plan of God, of the once-given new life. It is as if it laid down perseverance" as the divine rule for the Christian, while the negative passages came in to caution the man not to deceive himself with appearances, nor to let any belief whatever palliate the guilt and minimize the danger of sin. In the biographies of Scripture, it is noteworthy that no person appears who, at one time certainly a saint, was later certainly a castaway. The awful words of Heb 6:4-6; 10:26,27 appear to deal with cases (such as Balaam's) of much light but no loving life, and so are not precisely in point. Upon the whole subject, it is important to make "the Perseverance of the Saviour" our watchword rather than "the Perseverance of the saint."

Handley Dunelm

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Steadiness, persistence, persistency, constancy, steadfastness, resolution, indefatigableness.

Moby Thesaurus

acceptance, assiduity, balkiness, bigotry, bullheadedness, commitment, continualness, continuance, continuation, continuity, decidedness, decision, decisiveness, dedication, definiteness, determinateness, determination, determinedness, devotion, diligence, doggedness, dogmatism, earnestness, endurance, extension, fanaticism, firmness, fixed mind, forbearance, forbearing, forbearingness, fortitude, grit, guts, hardheadedness, headstrongness, indefatigability, indulgence, inflexibility, inflexible will, intolerance, lengthening, lenience, leniency, long-sufferance, long-suffering, longanimity, maintenance, mulishness, obduracy, obdurateness, obstinacy, obstinateness, opinionatedness, overzealousness, patience, patience of Job, patientness, perpetuation, persistence, pertinacity, pigheadedness, pluck, progress, progression, prolongation, protraction, purpose, purposefulness, pursuance, relentlessness, repetition, resoluteness, resolution, resolve, resolvedness, restiveness, run, sedulousness, self-control, self-will, seriousness, sincerity, single-mindedness, stamina, staying power, steadfastness, stiff neck, stiff-neckedness, stoicism, straight course, strongheadness, stubbornness, sufferance, sulkiness, sullenness, sustained action, sustenance, sweet reasonableness, tenaciousness, tenacity, tirelessness, tolerance, toleration, total commitment, uncooperativeness, uninterrupted course, unregenerateness, unremittingness, waiting game, waiting it out, way, will, willfulness