different between persistent vs relent

English

Etymology

From Latin persist?ns, present participle of persist? (“to continue steadfastly”). Synchronically analyzable as persist +? -ent.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /p??s?st?nt/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /p??s?st?nt/
• Hyphenation: per?sis?tent

Adjective

persistent (comparative more persistent, superlative most persistent)

1. Obstinately refusing to give up or let go.

   She has had a persistent cough for weeks.
2. Insistently repetitive.

   There was a persistent knocking on the door.

3. Indefinitely continuous.

   There have been persistent rumours for years.

4. (botany) Lasting past maturity without falling off.

   Pine cones have persistent scales.
5. (computing) Of data or a data structure: not transient or temporary, but remaining in existence after the termination of the program that creates it.

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

6. (mathematics) Describing a fractal process that has a positive Brown function
7. (mathematics, stochastic processes, of a state) non-transient.

Related terms

Translations

Anagrams

• pinsetters, presentist, prettiness, serpentist

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin persist?ns.

Adjective

persistent (masculine and feminine plural persistents)

1. persistent

Derived terms

• persistentment

Related terms

• persistència
• persistir

Further reading

• “persistent” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “persistent” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “persistent” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “persistent” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

French

Pronunciation

• Homophones: persiste, persistes

Verb

persistent

1. third-person plural present indicative of persister
2. third-person plural present subjunctive of persister

Latin

Verb

persistent

1. third-person plural future active indicative of persist?

Romanian

Etymology

From French persistant.

Adjective

persistent m or n (feminine singular persistent?, masculine plural persisten?i, feminine and neuter plural persistente)

1. persistent

Declension

English

Etymology

From Middle English relenten, from Anglo-Norman relentir, from Latin re- + lentare (“to bend”), from lentus (“soft, pliant, slow”). Earliest recording dates to 1526.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /???l?nt/
• Rhymes: -?nt

Noun

relent (plural relents)

1. Stay; stop; delay.
   • 2015, Mel Parson, First Sign of Trouble (song)

     There was no relent, my dear, as we pulled each other in.
2. (obsolete) A relenting.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Edmund Spenser to this entry?)

Derived terms

• relentless

Translations

Verb

relent (third-person singular simple present relents, present participle relenting, simple past and past participle relented)

1. (intransitive) To become less severe or intense; to become less hard, harsh, or cruel; to soften in temper

   He had planned to ground his son for a month, but relented and decided to give him a stern lecture instead.

   • 1989, Kazuo Ishiguro The Remains of the Day

     I did, I suppose, hope that she might finally relent a little and make some conciliatory response or other.
2. (intransitive) To slacken; to abate.

   We waited for the storm to relent before we ventured outside.

   He will not relent in his effort to reclaim his victory.

3. (obsolete, transitive) To lessen, make less severe or intense.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.iv:

     But nothing might relent her hastie flight; / So deepe the deadly feare of that foule swaine / Was earst impressed in her gentle spright […]

4. (dated, intransitive, of substance) To become less rigid or hard; to soften; to yield, for example by dissolving or melting
   • 1669, Robert Boyle, The History of Fluidity and Firmness

     [Salt of tartar] placed in a cellar will […] begin to relent.

Translations

Adjective

relent (comparative more relent, superlative most relent)

1. (obsolete) softhearted; yielding

References

French

Etymology

re- +? lent (“slow”, in the sense “lingering”)

Pronunciation

Noun

relent m (plural relents)

1. lingering smell (usually bad); stench
2. (figuratively) overtone

Further reading

• “relent” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Middle English

Verb

relent

1. Alternative form of relenten