Definition of perseverate in English:
perseverate
intransitive verb
[no object]PsychologyRepeat or prolong an action, thought, or utterance after the stimulus that prompted it has ceased.
‘they perseverate under stress’- ‘Bitterman and Couvillon found that bees tended to perseverate - to choose the color for which they had most recently been rewarded.’
- ‘So he was compensating for the uncertainty factor by perseverating on the stressor with which he was at least already familiar - that stressor being work.’
- ‘I have a mild frontal lobe disorder that leads me to perseverate, and thus I've continued to work out the theory and do experiments anyway.’
Pronunciation
Origin
Early 20th century from Latin perseverat- ‘strictly abided by’, from the verb perseverare (see persevere).
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