persistence — English Dictionary

Noun

1. The property of being persistent.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Uncountable

   Examples

   You've got to admire her persistence. She's asked him out every day for a month even though she keeps turning him down.

   More examples (1)

   The Thaumatrope was based on the persistence of vision. The disc of card was rotated so rapidly by means of threads attached to it that the eye saw both sides of the card simultaneously.

2. Of data, the property of continuing to exist after the termination of the program.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Uncountable

   Examples

   Once written to a disk file, the data has persistence: it will still be there tomorrow when we run the next program.

3. Continuation of the previous day's weather (particularly temperature and precipitation statistics).

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Uncountable

4. The number of times an operation can be iteratively applied to a number before it reaches a permanently constant state.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Uncountable

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   The persistence of the number 39 under the operation of multiplying the digits of the number is three, because 3x9 = 27, 2x7 = 14, and 1x4 = 4, and no further iterations will change the number again.

Noun

1. the property of a continuous and connected period of time

   Synonyms

   continuity

   Broader terms

   lastingnessdurabilityenduringnessstrength

2. persistent determination

   Synonyms

   doggednessperseverancepersistencytenacitytenaciousnesspertinacity

   Broader terms

   determinationpurpose

3. the act of persisting or persevering; continuing or repeating behavior

   Synonyms

   perseveranceperseveration

   Broader terms

   continuancecontinuation

   Examples

   his perseveration continued to the point where it was no longer appropriate