different between uphold vs insist

English

Etymology

From Middle English upholden, equivalent to up- +? hold. Compare Dutch ophouden (“to stop, cease, hold up”), German aufhalten (“to stop, halt, detain”). Compare also Middle Low German upholt, Old Norse upphald (“uphold, support”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??p?hold/

Verb

uphold (third-person singular simple present upholds, present participle upholding, simple past upheld, past participle upheld or (archaic) upholden)

1. To hold up; to lift on high; to elevate.
2. To keep erect; to support; to sustain; to keep from falling
3. To support by approval or encouragement, to confirm (something which has been questioned)
   • 1748. David Hume. Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral. London: Oxford University Press, 1973. § 18:

     but there was still a connexion upheld among the different ideas, which succeeded each other.

Derived terms

• upholdatory (rare, obsolete, nonce word)

Translations

References

• uphold in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• Notes:

Anagrams

• hold up, hold-up, holdup

English

Etymology

Partly from Middle French insister, from Latin ?nsistere; and partly from a back-formation from insistence.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?n?s?st/
• Rhymes: -?st
• Hyphenation: in?sist

Verb

insist (third-person singular simple present insists, present participle insisting, simple past and past participle insisted)

1. (with on or upon or (that + ordinary verb form)) To hold up a claim emphatically.

   (I am defending her; see a similar example in the context below for comparison.)
2. (sometimes with on or upon or (that + subjunctive)) To demand continually that something happen or be done.

3. (obsolete, chiefly geometry) To stand (on); to rest (upon); to lean (upon).

Translations

Anagrams

• INSTIs, sit-ins, sits in