Trending: ‘perseverance’

Perseverance was among our top lookups on February 18th, 2021, after NASA’s rover of this name was successfully placed on Mars.

I’m safe on Mars. Perseverance will get you anywhere.

#CountdownToMars

— NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) February 18, 2021

We define perseverance as “continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition : the action or condition or an instance of persevering.” In English use since the 14th century, the word may be traced to the Latin roots of per-, meaning “through,” and severus, meaning “severe.”

As soon as I had regaled myself I went in quest of those kind ladies, whom I was very impatient to see; and, with some difficulty and perseverance, I found them at May's-hill, Greenwich.
— Olaudah Equiano, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, 1794