WORD OF THE DAY: PERSEVERATE
verb | per-SEV-uh-rayt
To perseverate is to intently focus one’s attention on a thought or thoughts. Perseverate can also mean “to recur or repeat continually.”
// They teach that there is no use in perseverating about past regrets.
// Nervous thoughts perseverated in the back of her mind for weeks leading up to the event, but it was a complete success.
EXAMPLE OF PERSEVERATE
“Why do we remember the close losses more than the wins? … We perseverate on Milwaukee’s 24-point comeback with 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter but forget the Wolves trailed by 16 with less than five minutes to play before beating Houston earlier this year.” — Michael Rand, The Minnesota Star Tribune, 14 Apr. 2025
DID YOU KNOW?
Looking at perseverate and perseveration, you may guess that the latter was formed by adding a suffix to the former, but that is not the case. Perseveration is actually the older term by a few years. In the early 1900s, psychologists adopted perseveration from German for the act of repeating a behavior over and over again—for instance, continually repeating the same syllable or word might be called “verbal perseveration.” Shortly afterward, those scientists wanted a verb for such acts of repetition, so they changed the -ation of perseveration to -ate and perseverate was born. Perseverate continued to evolve and persevere in the English language, which led to its broader meanings, “to recur or repeat continually” and “to fixate.”
Merriam Webster Dictionary
